In “The Surprised Silence on Rape Cases” , Rickey Singh laments the failure of national and regional women’s organisations to make statements on two current cases of rape, including the tragedy (what an inadequate description) of the gang rape of the young woman in India. Is this censure justified?
For the last twenty years, at least, women’s organisations have been making statements about the epidemic of violence against women and the impunity for perpetrators. Every year, gender justice activists accompany women victims to hospitals and courts, provide safe housing, organise trainings for the criminal justice system, launch advocacy campaigns, hold candlelight vigils, demonstrations and go on radio programmes. And this happens in every country of the Caribbean, routinely.
As a result, there is domestic violence legislation and thousands of police have and continue to receive training to ensure a more profound access to justice. In some countries specialised police units are established and mandatory reporting of child abuse is required. These are identifiable achievements because of women’s rights advocacy.
But the culture changes much more slowly and in the face of a Caribbean popular culture that promotes a model of aggressive masculinity, the challenge to reboot socialisation towards equitable and respect-based norms is enormously complicated.
Would it not be something for trade unions, sports clubs, chambers of commerce, religious organisations to join in, making the condemnatory statements, formulating campaigns, demanding of communities and states enhanced protection, justice and prevention of violence against women by men?
Ending violence against women requires that men as individuals and in their collectives, accept the responsibility for making change, not because as a man yesterday in the street said as he stepped towards the traffic to give way for me “women must be protected always”, but because women are equally entitled to safety and freedom.
I should add that the song whole ton sweet, from a melodic and arrangement perspective. A common response is: “Yes, but it sweet bad!”
Attillah Springer writes in the Guardian about this Rape Culture in our own backyards:
http://tillahwillah.wordpress.com/tag/rape-culture/
and touches on some of what Roberta describes as embedded in our culture, especially that “model of aggressive masculinity” that fuels it. Her (Atillah’s) mention of Carnival made me think some more about something that hasn’t stopped disturbing me since Antigua Carnival just gone. What more evidence of our deeply rooted rape culture do we want that a road march that declares, in the coded but still crystal clear language of calypso tradition, that if a woman says No, then you rape her?
Antiguan journalist Joanne Hillhouse wrote this thoughtful piece back during the season,
http://www.antiguaobserver.com/?p=78558
Svenn spoke publicly about it and Women Against Rape launched and lost a battle to oppose it. Silence from the government, except to prevent those within the government “responsible for women” from speaking out, apparently with the logic that violence has been a part of calypso music from back when. The crazier thing, though, is that most of the everyday people I talk to about it don’t really have a problem with it. One very well-meaning and usually reasonable man said to me, “Well it’s not really about rape, it’s like when a woman is sort of hesitating and you have to convince her.” By kicking in her back door??
I was at a Carnival fete jamming up a storm, and got off the floor when the song played. A male acquaintance asked me why I stopped dancing and I said, “the song promotes rape.” He was very sympathetic. “Too close to home, eh?” – to his mind, the only possible reason I could have for protesting was that I myself had been raped.
In a conversation back in August about it, someone told me that they wouldn’t worry about it getting play across the Caribbean, that the local popularity of Burning Flames is blinding us Antiguans (and making our Government wary of speaking against the song, maybe??) and that other islands would never tolerate such a thing. But I have a Trini friend here in Antigua who gets a bootleg CD of all the popular Carnival songs hitting in T&T. Guess what is on her 2013 hits CD?
For those who want to hear the horrific song that Joanne rightly calls “bone-chilling” – it starts with a woman screaming and she screams through the chorus – it’s on youtube, or google Burning Flames Back Doh and it should come up.
I am really tired of some men identifying a problem as a “women’s problem” and then pontificating and telling women, scolding women about what they should do. If Ricky correctly identifies rape as a societal scourge, harming the lives of women and men, then address it and resist the tendency to simultaneously privatize and partition this “problem” as belonging solely to women while lecturing them on the wise use of their time. This is so disturbing because it is a recurring practice and it reveals the deep seated anxiety that all these women groups don’t know what they are about, have too much time on their hands, and worse yet are not really representing the “real” interests of women. In the past six weeks in Barbados I have been very pleased to see the heightened activism of local women’s organizations around the issue of domestic violence building on UNWOMEN’s 16 days Programme . I saw coverage of activities by NOW, the BP&W, IGDS: NBU, the Bureau and others. Apparently Ricky did not see this
Thanks Mabels7th…I could similarly make a list of organizations and their activities in Jamaica…can somebody send all of these comments to Ricky…so that we are not talking to ourselves??
Rosina, thanks also…your comments are spot on!!
Judith
[...] Clarke, on her Roots and Rights blog, pointed out that for the last 20 years women’s organisations have in fact been speaking out, [...]
Often I find Ricky’s commentaries on target. This one seems to reflect a blind spot that represents the biggest challenge to transforming the culture supporting violence against women in the region. Our men have to see this as much their responsibility as any one else’s. As you correctly point out , it is essential that the faith based organisations, sports groups, trades unions and private sector organisations speak out on this issue. Hopefully we have reached a turning point.
Like Jacquie, I am too angry to speak..knowing of the valiant efforts being made by the four listed organizations (with almost no resources, and mostly volunteer work from primarily?? you guessed right – women, NOT men – to address the huge number of incidences of violence against women, especially rape.
I agree with our friends at Rootsandrights….and strongly suggest that Ricky Singh starts the campaign to get his male colleagues, beginning in the media, to take responsibility for the actions of their own male relatives, friends and colleagues and get them to take the lead in protesting against violence/rape against women…it is work..unhappy work..men must do the work as well.
Judith in Jamaica
Thanks so very much.
We’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t. I see women’s organisations in St Lucia working constantly to bring public awareness, and hopefully and end, to this shameful situation. The men usually respond “oh these women again, is wuh dey want now?”. Then a woman is murdered and everybody wants to know why women’s groups aren’t speaking out. Sometimes, like now, I’m too angry to speak.
Thanks for this. I live in Jamaica and would love if you could tell me the names of women’s organisations that can provide interventions/assistance n the case of domestic violence.
You can try:
Women’s Inc,
7 Denehurst Avenue–Kingston, 10
Tel: 929-9038- Fax: 926-3091
E mail: w.i.crisiscentre@cwjamaica.com
But also, JAMAICANS FOR JUSTICE
Kingston Chapter
2 Fagan Avenue, Kingston 8, Jamaica, W.I.
Tel: (876) 755-4524-6
Fax: (876) 755-4355
Email: ja.for.justice@cwjamaica.com
And the CISOCA (centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse) a unit of the Jamaica Constabulary
Also Women’s resource and Outreach Centre
Women’s Resource and Outreach Centre (WROC)
47 Beechwood Avenue
Kingston 5
Jamaica, W.I.
Phone: (876) 929-8873 or (876) 960-9067
Fax: (876) 968-9260