TT and the rights of women and girls

TTUTA

The theme for International Women’s Day on Sunday was, I am Generation Equality: Realising Women’s Rights. It recognises 25 years of women’s activism around the globe, which was heralded by the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted in 1995, at the Fourth World Conference on Women in China.

That conference focused on the empowerment of women and girls to ensure equity, equality and the upholding of fundamental human rights for women and girls around the world. Furthermore, this year’s theme signposts the five-year milestone towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals; in particular Goal 5 - Gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls.

This is the first of a two-part commentary exploring the theme for International Women’s day, 2020, and the rights of women.

Over the past 50 years, the government has made considerable progress in promoting egalitarianism within the society. The creation of a legislative agenda to reduce gender-based discrimination and eliminate the worst forms of discrimination against women, has successfully met the imperatives of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

Adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1979, TT signed the Convention in1985 and ratified it in 1990. A commitment was given to establish measures to be undertaken by all sectors of community to end discrimination against women.

TT is well on the way to achieving Goal 5 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We must feel proud that in our beloved country, our women and girls have access to free health care, education and other freedoms not afforded in other parts of the world.

Notwithstanding these significant strides, however, the dark cloud of gender-based violence still hangs over our beloved land. Government has responded to violations of women’s rights and their need for greater protection by enacting legislation such as the Domestic Violence Act and strengthening the Sexual Offences Act.

However, the incidents of domestic violence and sexual offences have not decreased. For example, between January 2016 and June 2017, 4,403 serious calls were made to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, 800-SAVE. Seventy-one per cent of the 259 police reports made between January and March 2015, were by women.

There is a need for the protective services and judiciary to closely monitor the implementation of legislation and improve capacity for the administration of justice. There is also a need for a change of attitudes and behaviours which contribute to the culture that promotes gender-based violence.

In many homes and communities, there are still mothers and daughters who are entrenched in cycles of poverty, violence, and limited access to education, and who still do not fully enjoy the constitutional rights they are entitled to.

In our nation’s schools, there are female students at both primary and secondary levels who are victims of domestic violence, physical, verbal, emotional and sexual abuse. Although educators are bound by law to report such situations as they become aware of them, the fact is, some girls either never tell their teachers or they mask their pain extremely well.

The result of this silence is that in TT there are generations of women who have suffered abuse or continue to suffer abuse. How do women and girls in such circumstances benefit from education opportunities available to them? How are these women and girls expected to attain their full potential and be citizens who contribute meaningfully to the growth and sustainability of our nation?

Within the education system, there should be a comprehensive suite of services to assist girls who find themselves in such harmful situations. Having adequate staff to provide social welfare support, as well as counselling and rehabilitative services, is but one measure that can be implemented to tackle this issue. Facilitating a gender sensitive curriculum at all levels, and the coordinated and consistent delivery of Health and Family Life Education in all schools, will be a significant catalyst in changing entrenched attitudes, such as the disrespect and objectification of women.

Gender analysis on the lives of female students should be an aspect of research conducted by relevant state agencies to ascertain various social and educational strategies to ensure equitable outcomes for girls.

Ensuring equality and equity for girls and young women is a critical component of advocacy for realizing the rights of women in our country.