Culture Matters

DARA E HEALY

'Violence has become embedded in the everyday-ness of our existence.'

- WINAD pilot study on the Role of Women in Communities

THE GUNSHOTS sounded much closer last night. Short sharp blasts, so maybe handguns this time? The howling of the dogs lasted longer too, more intense. From the depths of the post gun-battle silence, a baby cried. A woman shouted at the top of her voice, asking for God to intervene and forgive human beings for their evil ways.

When the explosions started, I immediately envisioned the women in Ukraine, fleeing with their few possessions and children holding on to their skirts. In the relative safety of my home, it felt as though the gunmen were right outside my window; my heart pounded at the sheer terror of it all. I wondered how those women must feel to be actually running from bullets and dodging bombs, losing everything. My mind ran to the media images of confused Venezuelan women sitting on the beach in Los Iros, surrounded by children wrapped in blankets against the chilly air.

In times of conflict, it is often the women who provide a sense of normalcy and comfort - sewing Ukrainian flags for soldiers and protesters, cooking familiar foods or telling ancient stories. This week, we recognised again the resilience of women through the observance of International Women's Day, incorporating the hashtag Break the Bias. We created a space for celebration, even as the war in Europe, the battle for our climate and TT's ongoing refugee struggles continue to be the backdrop for discussions around equality and bias.

The UN notes that 'displacement will bring increased vulnerability to violence, sexual abuse and exploitation' of women. Despite decades of research, reports and work on the ground by non-governmental organisations, in TT, women continue to be killed or harmed in intimate and non-intimate partner relationships at alarming rates.

Violence against women and girls remains a major area of concern. Sadly, our progress has been limited, not because we are unaware of the solutions, but because we continue to resist implementing programmes which can lead to a critical shift in many of our destructive social customs.

Part of the challenge is we still need to re-examine our understanding of gender relations. Gender is referred to as 'a complex system of personal and social relations of power through which women and men are socially created and maintained.' In other words, our understanding of power, violence and gender relationships are informed by what we consider to be normal. For instance, ideas like men are supposed to be dominant, while women should be tolerant. A woman standing up for what she believes may be viewed as being troublesome or a nag.

But there is another conversation that we are, possibly, still not ready to explore - that is, the one surrounding the many ways in which the bodies of women are misunderstood. The reality is that we continue to resist having open discussions about gender, sexuality and relatio