Katz impresses women at conference

Dr Jackson Katz, American educator, filmmaker and author made a big impression on hundreds of women who packed the Trinidad Hilton Ballroom for the First Citizens Women First - Changing the Narrative conference yesterday.

Katz, who created a gender violence prevention and education programme entitled Mentors in Violence Prevention, and which is used by the US military and various sporting organisations, said domestic violence, rape and abuse have been around for thousands of years but it was only in the 70s women came together to push governments worldwide to address the problem and develop support systems for victims and survivors. “Today, close to one billion people live in countries where it is still legal for a man to rape his wife. We have a very long way to go.”

He then spoke of children who live in homes where there is domestic violence and the effects on them. He stressed, they are not witnesses, they are victims. He said both boys and girls are traumatised by it and that is why they grow up abusive or subject themselves to abuse.

Katz said: “Most people in prison are men but not much is done to find out what traumas they may have experienced as children. Boys externalise their pain while the girls internalise it.”

He also noted that most school shooters in the US are males but authorities only debate whether it is a mental health issue or too many guns. However if it’s a girl shooter then they will try to get at the root cause. He said socialisation of boys is important.

Katz said men need to stand with women as allies to speak out about these social problems, and not stay in the background because these issues affect everyone. “We need men to be more out front with it.”

Katz turned to the power of passive language. Giving a small demonstration, he wrote on a board, Mike beats Jean. But more often than not he said it will be reported that Jean was beaten by Mike, or Jean was battered or even, Jean is a battered woman.

He said with Mike out of the picture the story focuses on Jean then a bit of victim blaming steps in. He said: “If we want transformation we must focus on Mike or else we will get nowhere,” since the power of language and the passive voice has placed the responsibility of ending Jean’s ordeal on her instead of Mike the perpetrator of the heinous act.

He also knocked men who do nothing about domestic violence or abuse because they are not involved in those activities. Katz said they need to talk out when they see abuse of any kind happening.

Katz called on every leader in whatever sphere of work they do, be it government, private sector, sports, culture to start conversations in their workplace about domestic violence and get to the root cause instead of being in reactionary mode.

The so-called do’s and don’ts to present domestic violence have always focused on girls/women instead of dealing with the root cause of problems that starts with boys. Katz ended his presentation borrowing a statement from Frederick Douglass: “It is much easier to build healthy children than repair broken men.”

In welcoming guests earlier, Karen Darbasie, Group CEO, First Citizens said the title of the conference itself was a “Changing the Narrative signals our commitment to not just talking about these issues but to spurring further action on some of the leading problems that affect relationships in our society among and between men and women.”

Among the narratives they are seeking to change are one of an assumed natural hierarchy between the sexes to an acceptance of the ideology of equality despite religious precepts or past cultural practices, to reinforce the perception that gender issues concern the wider society. It should include men equally if not more so as advocates of gender equality, to bring men more firmly into the gender based violence dialogue, and one that accepts the potential what both men and women can bring to the economy, household and society if they are each allowed to exercise their full talents and intellectual capacities.

“This year we have decided to re-brand the conference on so many levels. Yet, at the core of the conference remains the real issue of domestic violence, which may be seen as one of the tragic outcomes of the ‘current narrative’ as we see it.”

Darbasie said through the First Citizens Pink Card Fund established seven years ago, $1.97 million had been disbursed across more than seven NGOs over the period, with an additional $265,000 to be released to NGOs within the next two weeks.

Dr Gabrielle Hosein followed with the presentation of startling facts on intimate partner violence (IPV) . She said: “Almost half of women in TT have experienced IPV in their lifetime, and a majority of women who experience IPV are in the workforce.”

She added that IPV affects women’s health and productivity, and private sector productivity and competitiveness.

Hosein feels the private sector can step in, address IPV and its effects on women’s health and labour, which can ultimately improve productivity and competitiveness in the private sector.

Then delving into results from a women’s health survey for TT commissioned by the Inter-American Development Bank, it stated that 52.01 per cent of employed women responded that they had experienced violence before, 32.65 per cent of whom worked in the private sector and greater than the 46.37 who were unemployed.

Hosein then challenged all participants at the conference to start a conversation with fellow workers about the subject, and about women’s empowerment since it can only reduce domestic violence. “This is for all ah meh gyul and dem,” is how she ended her presentation.