Dear Editor,

ON BEHALF of the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD), we wish to offer some clarification to the article titled “We need to include men”, published in the Guyana Chronicle of Wednesday, November 30, 2016.

SASOD hosted its third Women’s Health & Empowerment Session on Saturday, November 26, 2016. In keeping with the 16 Days of Activism campaign, the session focused on discussing gender-based violence and rape culture. The session was led by an external facilitator from an organization which specializes in addressing domestic violence. When the facilitator commented “…some of them [men] like it [being raped]” as noted in the article, representatives from SASOD used the opportunity to counter the inference and offer some inputs around the difference between being raped versus preferring women taking on a dominant role in consensual sexual intimacy.

There was mutual learning, as the conversation following the comment really served to dissect the seriousness of rape and how it affects both men and women.

The comments made by the external facilitator do not, in any way, reflect SASOD’s position on issues of sexual violence against men.

Regards,
SCHEMEL PATRICK
Advocacy and Communications Officer