Red Thread, GHRA and Help & Shelter statement: International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women 2006

PRESS RELEASE

PROVIDING EFFECTIVE JUSTICE FOR WOMEN VICTIMS REQUIRES THE COLLECTIVE ENERGY OF ALL SECTORS

Violence against women is so pervasive in Guyana today that only a concerted effort by all concerned can make any headway in reducing the problem. International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women provides an opportunity for an unprecedented mobilisation of both civil society and government to provide effective justice for women and girls, who remain the overwhelming victims of all forms of violence.

This year, the main focus of our organisations’ International Day observance is the urgent need for reform of sexual offences law and policy.

In Guyana today the dominant attitude towards women who report rape is scepticism, despite the fact that false accusations of sexual offences are less common than of other crimes. The disgraceful reality is that the legal system is so stacked against conviction that no woman can be blamed for deciding not to report that she has been raped.

While some aspects of the justice system are slowly improving, legal decisions continue to be profoundly affected by assumptions about what constitutes "real rape". Justice in this area must challenge the myths that women lie about rape, must recognise the predominance of rape by acquaintances and partners and must focus on the role of coercion and force rather than on consent.

The fact that a woman’s evidence is regarded as suspect unless she is “blameless” in all aspects of her life reveals how deeply misogynous the courts remain. While the new age of liberated sexuality is reflected increasingly in equal treatment in the society at large, the courts continue to uphold an outmoded double standard. In this respect recognition of the rights of women to equal respect with men has not yet taken root in the legal culture.

Guyana is not exempt from the intense global commercial pressures to sexualise the image of women. Our public space is saturated with sexual images which eclipse all other messages about women’s needs, rights and aspirations. Moreover, they suggest to men that women are in a perpetual state of consent to sex. These pressures are intended to condition women to consent long before they are confronted with a particular decision as to whether or not to do so.

Such hostile societal attitudes towards women contribute to our abysmally low conviction rates since, at the end of the day, the courts are influenced by prevailing values.

Last year, an international survey revealed that one in three people – both men and women – believe that women who act flirtatiously are partly or wholly responsible if they end up being raped. One in four felt the same about women who wear “sexy” clothing. These same people comprise juries at rape trials.

Blaming women victims is deeply entrenched in Guyanese culture. The prejudice concerning a woman’s choice of clothing is illustrative of this. If a man walks in a dangerous area of Georgetown at 3.00 a.m. and is robbed, is he to blame? Of course not. Is he responsible in any way? Yes, in part, for not taking into account the environment in and time at which he chose to exercise his right to walk. Therefore while women, like men, need to have regard for their safety and be able to assess and avoid potentially threatening situations, the relevant criterion should be that they exercise their choices responsibly, not how well they conform to cultural norms historically repressive of women’s self-expression

While juries and society as a whole are busy blaming rape victims, preferring the illusion that most rapes occur when strangers attack women in lonely places, the reality is that most rapes are committed by non-strangers. Home is proportionately a much more dangerous place with respect to violence of all kinds for the majority of women and girls than walking from a night-club onto the street at 3.00 a.m., no matter how dressed. Statistics on this point are unchallengeable.

If we are to abolish the spectre of sexual violence hanging over women and girls, we have to ensure that perpetrators will be held fully accountable for their deeds. Too many have been and are getting away with rape and other sex crimes, confident, with reason, that the justice system poses no threat to them.

Our organisations invite the government and all its agencies, all civil society organisations and every individual Guyanese on this International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women to reflect on their position on violence against women. We must all commit ourselves within our spheres of influence to assert pressure, not only for reform of rape laws and procedures, but to eliminate all forms of violence against women.

Guyana Human Rights Association

Help & Shelter

Red Thread

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

November 25 2006