….to tackle gender-based violence

By Richard Bhainie

THE Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD), in partnership with lead organisation, Merundoi Inc., has embarked on a project to edify religious and sport organisations about their role in helping to eradicate gender-based violence in Guyana.

Managing Director of SASOD Guyana, Joel Simpson, during an interview with the Sunday Chronicle, explained that the project falls under the European Union (EU) and United Nations (UN) Spotlight Initiative to end violence against women and girls; this project was launched in October, 2020.

Religious and sport organisations have an incremental role to play in the eradication of gender based violence. Much of what is culturally engrained in the Guyanese society stems from these organisations.

“We’re trying to make these groups more gender sensitive and for these groups to realise that how they view gender and how they portray, particularly, women and gender and sexual minorities who tend to be the victims of gender based violence, that is part of the root cause of gender based violence,” Simpson said.

Simpson highlighted that in the majority of the reported cases, men are the perpetrators of gender based violence. He explained that much of what is discussed in the places of worship and in the sporting arena amongst men contribute to gender based violence.

“Sometimes the way we speak in church and on the football field and social and culturally where women are viewed as property and how gender minorities are viewed as an abomination and castaways, that’s the root of gender based violence,” Simpson contended.

He noted that even with the best laws in the country, for real change to occur, the issue must be tackled from the root, whereby these organisations are properly sensitised on the issue and may use their medium to communicate messages conducive to change.

“We have to prevent it from happening in the first place, as opposed to only responding and reacting from when it happens, and the only way to prevent it from happening is to change the mindset of people who are predominately men,” he said.

The project will target leaders within the religious and sporting organisations who will undergo training and would be able to pass the message on within their organisations.

“So for the faith leaders, we’re developing a toolkit which we’re going to use to train leaders within the community, particularly leaders who are attuned to gender based issues, we’re going to train them as facilitators and then we’re going to support them to do retraining with other faith leaders so the intervention is peer based,” Simpson noted.

The training will be as interactive as possible and will be tailored specifically for the target groups. Simpson noted that one of the more interesting things that will be implemented is diversity and the inclusion of policies for the sporting organisations.

“We are hoping to open the eyes of leaders in these sectors so we start to change the culture around gender and gender norms and social norms in Guyana,” Simpson said.

The project, which was formulated with the COVID-19 pandemic in mind, will be conducted through a mixture of virtual and face-to-face means. It commenced on January 1, 2021 and is targeting faith organisations and sporting facilities in Regions Four and Six.