The world’s most hypocritical women’s groups are in Guyana
Kaieteur News – Human rights exist on many horizons. Rights of women, LGBT people, minority groups, children, police victims, refugees, prisoners. It is not possible for freedom and justice in society to flourish if these rights are granted or separated.
People’s rights are closely linked in a philosophical matrix. That poetic saying of Nazi Germany will live forever. It was composed by the German Lutheran pastor, Martin Niemöller.
“First they came for the Communists
and I did not let out
because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not let out
because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
and I did not let out
because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak for me. ”
If you are going to protect the rights of LGBT people to be what they want to be, then those rights must be protected within an overarching framework of other rights that other parts of society are entitled to . Monday was International Women’s Day. I chose not to write on the relevance of the topic because I have been disgusted for several decades now at the flawed nature of Guyana’s women’s rights groups.
First, I believe that they are a shameless elite and show an open contempt for crimes where poor women are the victims. And they have no intention of change. I was on the day of the appreciation for Andaiye’s death held at the Arthur Chung Conference Center (ACCC). I stood atop one of Guyana’s most mysterious ironies in the history of this country. Here was a woman who was supposed to belong to a revolutionary party, called the Workers’ Alliance, but one representative of that class was not a speaker.
Speaker after speaker wore his high-class emblems on the sleeve of their shirt. The list included the daughter of President Burnham’s longtime foreign minister, Rashleigh Jackson, and one of President Burnham’s daughter, Ulele. Both women are residents of other countries. There was no guest speaker who was East Indian.
Second, these women’s groups choose which position to deport on depending on the media coverage. They are publicity driven and in fact they are crazy publicity. Once the victim’s situation does not bring adequate media coverage, they are not interested. If women’s rights entities in Guyana are concerned with gender protection then it is sociological fraud on their part if they could not see that the majority of victims when the APNU + AFC closed down the sugar estates without financial compensation were women and children.
Here is an excerpt from a column of mine, “Every Guyanese Should Witness the decision of Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs,” made six years, six months ago on October 22, 2014, “Where is Red Track? This girl is in her teens. She did not steal or shoot anyone. She didn’t hurt anyone. “The magistrate jailed a teenage girl, Ariana Peters, for six months for going to Suriname without going through Guyanese immigration.
This is an excerpt from a column on yet another incident of judicial abuse of women. This was done five years after the column referred to above. His name is, “What a Guyanese judge said about a murdered Mahaica woman,” on Monday, December 13, 2019.
“Justice Barlow then offered another reason for her 15-year sentence (a year is 9 months in judicial terms). She said she considered him younger than the woman and so the woman would be more aggressive. Justice Barlow has turned Niccolò Machiavelli on his head. The famous 15th-century Italian philosopher wrote that older women prefer younger men because younger men are more aggressive. Barlow did just the opposite. Barlow concluded that since Rohoman was older than Harrinarine, she was the more aggressive partner. ”
In Barbados where I spent some time, this judge would have felt the wrath of some women’s groups. In places like India, the United States, Canada, that judge would have been under intense pressure to resign. So why do you think our women’s groups are silent on what happened to Ariana Peters and that poor soul killed in Mahaica, Hafeeza Rohoman?
The answer is obvious to those who study this society and those who are familiar with how elite class groups operate in this country. Ariana Peters and Hafeeza Rohoman were unknown souls. The women’s groups could not get publicity over their tragedies. Why so far the women’s groups have not denied police over the Venezuelan woman who was beaten, sodomized and raped? She is a sex worker. I love my pets more than some humans.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of this newspaper.)