Printed in Caribbean Week, March 30, 1996
emember every time you raise that hand,
is woman make man," declared Director of Culture Jacinth Martin in a powerful
dramatic performance which began the first national conference on violence against
women and children. Titled "Breaking the Conspiracy of Silence in Violence
Against Women and Children" it was held on International Women's Day, March
8, at the Ocean Terrace Inn. A diverse group of citizens, government officials,
educators, workers and community activists came together to address this important
issue.
Ms. Martin's challenged women to speak out about the abuse they have experienced
and to leave abusive relationships. Her hard-hitting message drew thunderous
applause, and occasional laughter, from participants Ms. Martin called on
men to treat women with respect and specifically challenged the clergymen
present to respond to her performance. Using biblical images she quipped,
"Just for one rib, they want us to pay day in and day out."
Following Ms. Martin's dramatic presentation Rosalyn Hazelle, the Director
of Women's Affairs, called the clergymen back to the podium for their responses.
Pastor Benjamin described his mother pointed out a woman being beaten by
a man in his youth and instructing him, "Don't you ever do that."
Shouts of "Beside" from the enthusiastic audience quickly interrupted
is statement that "Behind every man..."
In her welcoming remarks Ms. Hazelle quoted from a 1994 World Bank report
which demonstrated the advances women have made in gaining recognition of
the consequences of violence against women: "Women cannot lend their
labor or creative ideas if they are burdened with the physical and psychological
scars of abuse." Archdeacon Smitten began the invocations saying that,
"You created men and women in your image as equal partners." He
continued, saying we must work to "build a society in which all of
us strive to avoid all violence." Pastor Benjamin's message was also
one of equality. Both men left no room for the idea that the Bible gives
men the right to be "the head of the household" or to abuse women.
Minister of Health and Women's Affairs, Dr. Asim Martin, gave his International
Women's Day Address which provided an overall context for the specific focus
of the conference. He spoke about, "the importance of gender equality
in nation-building. The valuable role of women in the family, workplace
and overall community must be recognized." These words will be familiar
to those who followed the UN Conference on Women held last fall in Beijing.
Dr. Martin also addressed the issue of AIDS in the Federation, saying that
the number of cases is increasing at an alarming rate. In closing he spoke
of the need for men to take the phrase "No Means No" to heart
and relinquish the myths that prevent them from doing so.
In her keynote address, Ms. Hazelle, made an impassioned plea to "break
the conspiracy of silence." She spoke about the global nature of this
problem and the fact that it crossed all boundaries. Describing the problems
facing the Federation she added, "Tradition and culture have conditioned
us not to get involved in family matters. Many women and children cry silently
and carry the scars of assault, rape or incest engraved deep in their hearts
and minds."
Ms. Hazelle described the need for everyone to get involved and act as "our
sisters' and brothers' keeper." In articulating her choice of the word
"conspiracy" she stated, "Family members, neighbours, educators,
health care providers and the police at times are unable to act quickly
or effectively and all of us, as concerned members of our communities, have
been to a large or considerable extent part of the conspiracy of silence
which can cause untold suffering." Sheila Harris of the Women's Affairs
Ministry followed up on Ms. Hazelle's inspiring remarks by spontaneously
singing "Woman's Time Has Come" for the group.
The scope of the problem of violence against women and children and the
current status of efforts to address them were presented by a panel of local
experts. A commonly expressed problem throughout the day was the lack of
accurate statistics for the scope of violence against women and children
in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis. Underreporting combined with scattered
and ineffective record-keeping makes it impossible to know how many women
and children are victimized by this violence.
Ingrid Charles-Gumbs, a guidance counselor at Basseterre High School, described
three girls at the school who were very withdrawn and timid. Her suspicions
that they had been subjected to various forms of abuse were proven correct
through counseling them. She reported other ways that the school environment
is affected by this abuse, reporting that "when sexually appropriate
behavior is discussed in school, many girls become uncomfortable because
of the sexual abuse they have suffered."
The second panelist was Eartha Williams of the St. Kitt Police Department.
She discussed violence as "a learned behavior which creates a dangerous
cycle." She reviewed current police procedures for dealing with these
cases as well as the applicable laws. Ms. Williams said that cases of violence
against women and children are under reported because "women are often
ashamed and embarrassed. In addition, many are loyal to their husband or
boyfriend or depend on him for financial support."
The Director of Public Prosecution, Joan Joyner, followed up on Ms. Williams'
presentation and spoke about what happens when cases reach the High Court.
In describing some extremely violent cases, she pointed out that women are
generally in the most danger after they have left the relationship. She
called for reforms in prosecutorial process and laws. The participants reacted
most strongly when she reviewed the maximum sentence for unlawful carnal
knowledge (adults having sexual relationships with minors). If the young
person is under 14 years old the adult can be sentenced to life in prison,
while the maximum penalty for having sexual relations with young people
between the ages of 14 and 16 is only two years.
The work of the Change Center in Nevis was the focus of Mary Spooner, the
final panelist. This two year old Center which provides many programs and
services for women and children was founded by Ms. Spooner just over two
years ago. They are currently the only non-governmental organization in
the federation working to defend the rights of women and children. A crisis
phone line, assisting women with their legal cases, maintaining a citizen's
advice bureau and keeping statistics are their major projects. Speaking
emotionally she declared that "men aren't going to say `things are
bad for women so we need to do something.' women need to stand up and start
the change." The audience responded with excitement to her proposal
that women be given a paid holiday for International Women's Day (as happens
for cricket).
In the afternoon workshops were held on: "Laws: Existing and Suggested
Improvement," "Defining Violence When We Talk About Violence Against
Women and Children," and "Social and Cultural Patterns Which Lead
to Violence." Each workshop began with a presentation about the issue
at hand, moved on to discussion and the generation of recommendations for
action within the topic area.
In the workshop on "Socio-Cultural Patterns," Mr. Rossi Hassad
reported on a joint Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization
study from 1994. The study revealed that "27% of women had experienced
physical injury from their partners, 37% had experienced mental cruelty
and 23% had been raped." The workshop participants were shocked to
learn that "40-45% of female homicide victims were killed by their
partners, as opposed to only 5% of male homicide victims." He apologized
that "these statistics which cover the Caribbean and Latin America
are the closest we can come to real figures for St. Kitts and Nevis."
Although it wasn't a focus in the discussions the issue of "caning"
children created some controversy. Some participants felt that "all
violence leads to further violence and is wrong," while others expressed
the belief that limited caning was a necessary in the raising of children.
Tensions between men and women also emerged in a couple of situations. While
the group was predominantly women, men represented some 20% of the participants.
Participant were particularly troubled by the question of how to reach young
men who seem to be falling by the wayside in the current educational system.
Over 80 people packed the conference room at the Ocean Terrace Inn for the
day-long gathering. The public response was so large that there wasn't enough
space to accommodate late registrants. Rosalyn Hazelle, whose office organized
the conference, was delighted by the response.
A great deal of energy and creative thinking went into the action proposals
which were discussed at the end of the day. The suggestions fit broadly
into the categories of legal reform, educational programs, counseling services,
support services for victims of violence and community organizing efforts.
A follow-up committee, which plans to form an ongoing non-governmental organization
to continue this vital work, will continue to work on the suggestions generated
during the conference.
The final session ran later than scheduled, but few seemed troubled by this.
After the conference, Rosalyn Hazelle said that this had been "a very
valuable and significant first step, but only a first step." Her office
remains committed to the creation of an infrastructure and programs to prevent
violence against women and children and to respond effectively when such
abuse occurs.