Yes TT should celebrate, but...

SEVERAL prominent women told Newsday on Sunday that the country should observe and even celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD) on Monday, however, many concerns remain on how society treats women.

Dennise Demming, communications consultant, said, “We always have reasons to celebrate. Women in TT have done very well.

“My mother-in-law died last week at the age of 96 and when I first met her, one of the stories she told me was that she was part of the lobbying group and the dissemination of information in south Trinidad, about women getting the right to vote. So if we look at it from a historical perspective, there is a lot to celebrate, from women getting the right to vote, from women making it into Parliament. We have a good number of women in Parliament.”

She said the fact that TT had a woman prime minister (Kamla Persad-Bissessar) and have a woman president (Paula-Mae Weekes) is reason to celebrate. “However IWD as a celebration is at a sad time in TT’s development. At the moment we are not taking care of our women.”

She said women suffer gender inequity, significant crime and now unemployment. “One of the consequences of covid19 is unemployment, and generally women are impacted first. So while we have a lot to celebrate simply because we’ve done well, it is a time of reflection and the leadership must reflect on the society and ask if the ecosystem is such that it enables women to achieve their full potential.”

Wendy Lee Yuen, former deputy leader of the Congress of the People, said, “I think women should be celebrated on every occasion. Nobody would be here without women, as we are mothers. As women, we need to recognise the power we have and use it positively.

“I think in spite of all the negatives that have occurred, women have to hold up the candle of hope for all mankind and lead the way for positive change and really drive home to the boy children that all the deviant behaviour is completely unacceptable and you can’t be my boy child and behaving like that.”

The Very Reverend Shelly-Ann Tenia, Dean and Rector of Holy Trinity Cathedral said, “I do think there’s actually a lot to celebrate, generally and specifically, as women. We have in many ways been the backbone of this society that we exist in.” Women pass on culture, manage homes and serve as leaders and peacemakers in the public domain.

“Women, just by virtue of who they are, have a lot to celebrate. I’ll be very frank - without the womenfolk around us, not much will get done, in my personal view.

“However I do think there is much for women to lament, in terms of the fabric of our cultural norms and social framework. We continue to have this idea that women are subordinate to men.” Toxic masculinity makes life very unsafe for women, and men, she lamented, relating it to male violence and incarceration, plus the abuse of women.

“There’s this sense that the adjusting of our social norms is critical, for women to be safe and be free to be fully whom they are and live equally with men. We need both men and women.”

Aliyah Abdulwudud of the NGO Women of Islam told Newsday that IWD should be celebrated. “Yes there are many obstacles and yes women are being targeted in TT by violent crime. Right now it is scary, it is unsafe and we do feel unsafe. But I don’t think those things define who we are.”

Recalling nurturing her one-year-old son, she said, “It is our duty to raise better men, so that we as a society can break the vicious cycle (of violence and abuse against women.” Abdulwudud said despite women suffering a lot amid all the negative events happening, women should acknowledge IWD.

“Even in the celebration we can pull a moment of silence and acknowledge what’s happening in TT.”

Newsday’s columnist Dr Gabrielle Hosein who is a lecturer and head of the Institute for Gender and Development Studies, UWI St Augustine campus, said IWD is a means of reminding all of the long history of women’s struggles for economic, social and gender justice.

“It’s not simply a celebration. More importantly it is a commemoration. It is important to remember the history of struggle and the continuing issues that need to be fixed and it is important to continue to gather energy and gather allies for the changes that need to be secured still.”

IWD must be marked precisely because it focuses not just the current challenges but also reminds us of the successes and achievements of women, Hosein said.

She noted that while gender-based violence was rightly emphasised at present, women were living multiple-issue lives in relation to the economy, care and political powers.