Dear Editor
HOW is it remotely possible a man with several kilos of ganja gets a four- year sentence, but a man who blatantly admitted to beating his wife with a rolling pin, severely damaging her body, (not to mention the mental, physical and emotional trauma she must have faced previously), gets only 18 months? The funding, programmes, ìinitiativesî and womenís groups are all in vain, if men keep seeing light sentences for blatantly brutalising and admitting to brutalising women. It sets a sub-conscious precedent that a woman’s life is worth less than a bag of dope. Newspapers and people preach constantly about how the ìattitudeî of the culture needs to change, but what really needs to change is the way the court and law enforcement deal with these sensitive cases. Selling and smoking weed is a non-violent offence; much of the world is beginning to see the benefits of the plant and are legalising it.

Yet here we are in 2018, jailing men for a plant, but allowing rapists, child molesters and abusers to run rampant. And you wonder why there is little to no social progress? Why people are getting robbed in broad daylight? Violence begets violence, the abuse witnessed by these young people at home is the trickle-down effect of the crimes we are seeing within our society today. If people in power, in any capacity, truly cared for this country, implementing ways to fully eradicate domestic violence would be at the forefront of their campaign. We would be creating ways to prevent, not treat, crime. Instead, we keep putting a band aid over a bruise, hoping it would heal the wound. What needs to be done is stricter laws have to be put in place for these atrocious men who feel as if they are rulers over the women in their lives.

The police and the other relevant authorities need to be adequately trained and then held accountable if they belittle, disrespect or disregard these abused women or these abuse claims. Real support and protection needs to be given to these women and their families. How many brave, strong women have somehow found a means of escape from their abusers, trying to raise their families and contribute to society in a positive way, only to find their abuser staking, threatening and in many cases killing them after many unheard cries for help from the police? The creation of wealth from oil and gas means absolutely nothing if we as a country continue to inadvertently cosign on the inhumane killing, abuse and disrespect of our women.

Regards
Stephanie Persaud