On
Friday, November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of
Violence Against Women, the Guyana Equality Forum (GEF) and the Society
Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) hosted the second
annual Zenita Temall Nicholson Memorial Event. The event took the form
of a Public Discussion on Gender-Based Violence in Guyana and served as
the commencement of SASOD’s 16 Days of Activism Campaign. The 16 Days of
Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign is a time to galvanize
action to end violence against women and girls around the world. In
2016, the campaign strongly emphasizes the need for sustainable
financing for efforts to end violence against women and girls towards
the fulfilment of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The
official theme for this year’s Campaign is: “Orange the World: Raise
Money to End Violence against Women and Girls.”
Raising funds
The
Public Discussion was facilitated by Guyanese feminist advocate and
stalwart educator, Bonita Harris. She began her presentation by
underscoring that “ending violence against women begins with awareness
and consciousness of why the names, nouns, and pronouns we use to call
and refer to persons can violate their integrity and sense of their
gender identity.”
In
her presentation, Harris urged participants to “talk the talk and walk
the walk”. “I want to encourage everyone here to ‘walk the talk’ …
Raising money to end violence against women and girls is an important
action for walking the talk or as Guyanese say, putting your money where
your mouth is.” She used the opportunity to launch a fundraising
initiative by producing an orange bowl to be used to raise money during
the 16 Days of Activism. “See this large orange bowl; I will be passing
it around for a collection to galvanize action to eradicate violence
against women and girls. And I will be donating the bowl for future
collections. Please give generously from whatever you have in your
pockets and purses today.” She also encouraged civil society
organisations to forego refreshments and use that money to eliminate
gender-based violence in Guyana.
Remembering Zenita
In
paying homage to the late Zenita Temall Nicholson, Harris thanked the
GEF and SASOD for providing her with the opportunity to declare publicly
her love for the late activist. “I first met her while she was working
with Merundoi and my spirit immediately took to her. When she told me
she was practising yoga at the Indian Cultural Centre, I suggested she
also join us at the Art of Living Centre, which she did, for training in
breathwork. I mention this, because like many of her friends and
colleagues who were shocked at her death by suicide, remembering her
happy and inspirational personality, I too was stunned knowing that in
addition to her political and social activism on behalf of others, she
was also engaged in attending to her own physical and spiritual health
and wellbeing,” Harris recalled.
Harris
indicated that Nicholson’s death on October 26, 2015, must force us to
be humble and reflect on the fact that we do not know what the face of
suicide or face of a suicidal person or the face of a woman in an
abusive relationship looks like. “We all have to pay much closer
attention, look at and listen more deeply to the persons we know and
care about.We have to start talking about our own suicidal thoughts and
getting persons to talk about theirs. The idea is not to get
‘comfortable’ with thinking and talking and listening, but to get
‘comfortable’ with being uncomfortable, and talking and listening to
thoughts and feelings and actions that bring no comfort; talking does
not refer to pontificating or issuing guidelines about the appropriate
responses to depression, mental illness, attempted and actual suicide,
and gender-based violence and abuse of women and girls,” Harris
explained. She highlighted that work needs to be done at creating
relationships and environments where persons can feel free to talk from
their heart without the fear of being judged. But Harris cautioned that
“the alleged perpetrator was not born an abuser, he too was most likely
conditioned to see and use violence as a solution to problems; and was
perhaps even a target of gender-based violence. Violence begets
violence. Violence breeds violence.”
Courage
Harris
remembered the comment Zenita made in accepting the Woman of Courage
Award in March, 2014 from the US Embassy, in which she said: “Today I’m
being honoured for my courage, but I have no courage; not compared to
those who inspire me to advocate for equality, human rights and
dignity.” Bonita noted that the best definition of “courage” she knows
of is the one that speaks of “standing up and speaking and sitting down
and listening.” She firmly urged all attendees to work towards ending
violence against women and girls by taking the time to sit down and
listen, compassionately and non-judgmentally. She encouraged the
representatives of organizations to advocate within their organizations
to ensure that sensitization, awareness, workshop, training sessions and
other meetings devote generous allocations of time for participants to
reflect on and ‘sit and listen’ to one another talk about their personal
experiences with being the target, and perpetrator, of gender-based
violence. She advised that we should not shy away from admitting that
women and girls are often also, wittingly or unwittingly, perpetrators
and enablers of gender-based violence against girls and women.Ending
gender-based violence begins with the self, and at home, with what we
think, feel, say, and do. The participants were encouraged to share
their thoughts and feelings, as well as to listen to their thoughts and
feelings, with love and compassion, and begin mobilizing others to play
an active role in ending violence against women and girls. A lot of
sitting and listening can give us the knowledge, strength, and courage
to stand up and speak up.
Issues around gender-based violence in Guyana in different and same-sex relationships
Harris devoted a significant part of her presentation to what she considers to be two major issues around gender-based violence in Guyana in different and same-sex relationships - the high levels of tolerance of general violence, violence against children and adolescents, and intimate-partner violence in Guyana and the general misunderstanding of the difference between ‘gender’ and ‘sex’ especially by those who feel their ‘gender’ matches their ‘sex.’ There was consensus around the room that gender-based violence is exceptionally normalized in Guyana; and it continues to be perpetuated and accepted because of this. Societal acceptance of bullying, shaming, stigmatizing, discrimination, disrespect, corporal punishment and other forms of violence by parents, teachers, and other adults in charge of children and adolescents is enormous. Harris noted that “there are terribly low levels of awareness and knowledge of genetic, bio-chemical, neurological, enabling/disabling, historical, and cultural factors shaping gender, sex and sexuality, and attitudes and behaviours in relation to violence, even among mental health and other healthcare professionals, educators, social welfare and childcare workers.” It has been seen many times over, how public spectacles, and dramas playing out on our streets, on local TV, on local stages, where different sex and same sex gender-based violence and the actions of mentally unstable persons are treated as entertainment and comedy and the laughter provoked as good, Harris said. To further underscore the prevalence and many dimensions of gender-based violence, she cited the recent media coverage of reports of alleged beating followed by murder, after a carpenter’s rejection of unwanted ‘feeling up,’ from a man. She went on to stress that the criminal cover-up, bribery, the application of money and power over the poor and powerless, then threats of more violence and murder, police and official corruption involving persons across the gender spectrum show how issues lead to issues which lead to other issues and future issues. This one example, she noted, illustrates the range and depth of issues around gender-based violence in Guyana, in addition to the more frequently referred to issues of depression, mental health, hopelessness, low self-esteem, self-harming, and suicide. The multitudes of issues that surround gender-based violence are situated in our relationships with one another, and in the other environments where gender-based violence arises or is created.
Also,
speaking at the event was Dr. Carolyn Gomes, Executive Director of the
Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC), where the late Zenita
Temall Nicholson was working as Guyana Country Coordinator at the time
of her passing.
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