A ROUTE 45 minibus driver allegedly punched a woman in her face and perpetrated other acts of violence against her person yesterday in front of the Stabroek Market, triggering a protest by nearly a dozen women, who rallied in front of the bus park holding up placards and shouting for men to respect women.

‘Women have the right to work in any category’, ‘Men respect women’, ‘God took the best from man to make woman’, and ‘Stop the violence!’ were some of the messages scribbled across placards prominently displayed by the women protesters, while members of the Guyana Police Force looked on from afar.
The protesters contend that the woman, a minibus driver, was parking her bus when the driver of another bus approached her with a demand that she move her bus. “He come up to she and they start arguing, and then he get mad and cuff she in she face! This thing gat to stop!!” one woman said, adding that women should be respected in every working environment.
“We are protesting because one of our own, a woman, was assaulted; and so we, as women, want to gain our respect; because we have to work too!! We have children to feed! We are appealing to whoever is in authority to give us justice! We want justice!! This thing come about because everybody want tuh do deh own thing! The driver was hotplating in the park, and so he holler up on she cause he mek money. We want justice!” another woman raged.
“The problem coming from this…The drivers doing deh own thing, and this is what is causing the fights out here. We are protesting against this. The authorities need to do something!” another woman protester said.
The woman who was assaulted also held up a placard. She told this newspaper that she was assaulted because she refused to remove her vehicle in adherence to the driver’s threat. “He tell me to move, and I said no, and then the thing start and he hit me. I need justice, and we need to stop violence against women.”
“This man  cuff her down like she was a man. He do it already, and now he doing it again; but we will not let him get away with it! We demand justice!” a man said, proudly holding up a placard.
Head of the United Minibus Association, Eon Andrews, who was among the protestors, said it was important for every case of violence against women to be highlighted, and that it should not be treated lightly.
“Women are a very important part of any industrial institution, and they have a right to work in any environment. It’s their right! The man who did this is not a part of our union, and therefore he never had the necessary training as a minibus driver,” Andrews said.