“Women, Wine & Words” – The Launch of SWAG

On Friday, March 10, 2017, the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) hosted the fourth women’s empowerment session, titled “Women, Wine & Words”, in celebration of International Women’s Day and to officially launch the SASOD Women’s Arm at its 203 Duncan Street, Lamaha Gardens location.

The women’s empowerment series was birthed as a collaboration between SASOD and the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA). The intention of the series is to educate and empower lesbian, bisexual (LB) women and women allies about issues related to their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Previous sessions have focused on the basics of SRHR, self-care, wellness, body image, gender-based violence and rape culture.The women empowerment sessions are intended to create a safe space for women to ventilate pertinent women and gender issues and to share their own lived-experiences or observations. The sessions also serve to give women the information needed to make informed decisions about their own sexual and reproductive health and their own rights.

Sexual harassment, Access to Health Services Still Challenging Issues for Women

On Thursday March 17, the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) and the Advancing Partners and Communities (APC) – Guyana Project held their seventh monthly “Lunch Talk” forum. This month the discussion focused on “Women and Workplace Discrimination” as part of a series of activities being held to commemorate International Women’s Day 2016 observed on March 8.

Under the theme “Pledge for Parity,” Commissioner Renata Chuck-A-Sang on the Women and Gender Equality Commission (WGEC) sat with Ms. Renuka Anandjit, Programme Director of the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA) and Mr. Nicholas Persaud, Stigma and Gender-Based Violence Specialist at APC to discuss how women still struggle for equal rights and opportunities, particularly in the workplace. The session was moderated by Secretary of SASOD’s Board of Directors, Ms. Alana Da Silva.

Not enough being done to address Gender Inequality

APC’s Stigma and Gender-Based Violence Specialist Nicholas Persaud called for strong policies to be implemented, not just drafted and sitting on paper. “A National Policy on Sexual Harassment does not exist but even if we do have legislative support there needs to be a unit to oversee that this policy is adhered to and that everyone follows the guidelines. We have transgender people being shunned and facing discrimination for simply being who they are by “cross-dressing” to attend court.”

Gender Equality Commissioner Encourages LBT Women to Test Cases in Court

On Thursday March 17, the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) and the Advancing Partners and Communities (APC) – Guyana Project held their seventh monthly “Lunch Talk” forum. This month the discussion focused on “Women and Workplace Discrimination” as part of a series of activities being held to commemorate International Women’s Day 2016 observed on March 8.

Under the theme “Pledge for Parity,” Commissioner Renata Chuck-A-Sang on the Women and Gender Equality Commission (WGEC) sat with Ms. Renuka Anandjit, Programme Director of the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA) and Mr. Nicholas Persaud, Stigma and Gender-Based Violence Specialist at APC to discuss how women still struggle for equal rights and opportunities, particularly in the workplace. The session was moderated by Secretary of SASOD’s Board of Directors, Ms. Alana Da Silva.

SASOD’s Advocacy and Communications Officer, Ms. Schemel Patrick, who leads the organization’s portfolio for women and gender issues, introduced the forum sharing that women’s advancement and leadership are central to economic development, but, workplace discrimination based on gender and sexuality is rampant in Guyana. “This hinders productivity and advancement for all workers. Transgender women especially face unrestrained discrimination when accessing employment because of their gender identity,” Patrick lamented. She added that those who go through their transitioning during the period of employment are often denied promotions or fired unjustly with no real consequences under the law for discrimination based on their gender identity. Guyanese lesbian and bisexual women have also reported discrimination in the labour market which results in joblessness, unjust denial of promotions or unfair dismissals. 

Minister Lawrence Calls for Inclusion, Recognition and Upward Mobility of LGBT Persons

Minister of Social Protection Volda Lawrence (left)
 and First Lady Sandra Granger 
(Ulelli Verbeke Photography)

In commemoration of International Women’s Day (IWD) 2016, the British High Commission, Georgetown, in collaboration with Red Thread, Guyanese Women Roundtable (GWR), Guyana Trans United (GTU) and the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) hosted a Women’s Empowerment Cocktail and Reception to celebrate marginalized women.

The event, which was held on the evening of IWD itself, last Tuesday, March 8, at the British High Commissioner’s Residence in Georgetown, was organised to create an empowering space for lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LBT) women and allies; to celebrate the strength and perseverance of these women; and to stimulate networking and strengthening of relationships among LBT women and allies. Chaired by GWR’s Convenor, Dr. Dawn Stewart,  the programme was well attended by scores of persons including First Lady,  Sandra Granger; Minister of Social Protection, Volda Lawrence; Minister within the Ministry of Communities, Dawn Hastings–Williams; many members of the diplomatic corps, civil society representatives and media personnel.

Delivering welcome remarks was Acting British High Commissioner, Ron Rimmer. He underlined that International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, and also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity and that the United Kingdom is fully committed to equality and non-discrimination and actively promotes women’s rights nationally and internationally, and has done so for a considerable period of time.  He urged everyone present to do their bit to ensure that the rights of girls and women are realized. “Each of us can assist within our own spheres of influence and commit to take pragmatic action to accelerate gender equality, pledge to take concrete steps to help achieve gender equality more quickly, take action to collectively help women advance equal to their numbers and realize the limitless potential they can offer. This can be done by helping women and girls achieve their ambitions, calling for gender-balanced leadership, respecting and valuing difference, developing more inclusive and flexible cultures and rooting out workplace bias,” Rimmer said.

Joint Press Release - International Woman’s Day

The Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender (LBT) Women’s Network (GY Sista Friends), Stella’s Sisterhood for Service and Support (S4) Foundation, Red Thread, Guyana Rainbow Foundation (GuyBow) and the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) unite in celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of Guyanese women on the occasion of International Women’s Day (IWD), notwithstanding the challenges women face living in our patriarchal society. Our groups remain committed to advancing progress for all women in every sphere of their lives.  IWD is commemorated annually on March 8. 

Despite efforts to empower women, leading roles in many sectors of the formal economy are still heavily dominated by men. In order to create meaningful, positive change, gender equality must also result in both equality of opportunity and outcome for women and men alike. Women must have equal access to the same opportunities, as well as equal pay for work of the same value, as men. “We also need to value women’s caring work,” said Karen De Souza, National Coordinator of Red Thread. “Women are often trapped in abusive relationships because of their economic circumstances, so valuing the caring work that women do in their homes and communities is critical to ending violence” she added. 

Guyana has good laws on its books aimed at eradicating violence against women. However, gender-based violence has reached pandemic proportions. Imarah Radix, Project Coordinator of the S4 Foundation vehemently stated that, “we need to stop hitting and hurting women. Each one of us has a role to play in ending domestic violence and we must recognise this. We cannot wait on the police or the courts to make a judgment; as the facts have shown that even though someone may have a court order, they are killed in the middle of the night, at home, in bed, by their partners.”

Colleen McEwan, Executive Director of GuyBow and member of GY Sista Friends pointed out that, “we must change our attitudes towards discrimination and violence against all women, including lesbian, bisexual and transgender women. We must challenge discrimination and violence wherever and whenever it raises its ugly head,” she added.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention of the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1979, to which Guyana is a party. The CEDAW committee meets regularly – one year after a country ratifies the Convention and every four years thereafter – to review reports submitted by governments on progress towards its implementation. In its most recent review of Guyana in New York in July 2012, the CEDAW Committee in its concluding observations urged Guyana “to provide effective protection against violence and discrimination against all groups of women through the enactment of comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation that includes the prohibition of all forms of discrimination against them and the decriminalization of consensual adult same sex relations...”

 We challenge every person to play their part in ensuring that we continue to create a society where women are empowered and have equal opportunities to their male counterparts. Every Guyanese woman has the right to the freedoms as outlined in the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights and should be protected, regardless of their differences.