The recent spate of violence against women locally has done nothing but reinforce the thinking that not enough is being done to protect the vulnerable among us.
Let’s be clear, violence against women, particularly as a group considered to be one loaded with vulnerabilities, is a crime against us as a nation.
The many tragedies we have witnessed recently across the island involving women is the continuation of an age-old travesty that is raring its ugly head. While there seems to be more incidents facing public scrutiny up close, it cannot be suggested that there is an upsurge in the numbers but rather, probably, a larger number being officially reported and an unbelievable amount playing out in the court of public opinion via the worldwide web. Police reports seem to support that thinking.
A social media post last week got the country buzzing even more. The post seems to detail atrocities suffered by a woman at the hands of her then spouse and the failures of the system to adequately hand out a solution and a country that was ready and willing to blame the alleged victim. If this is where we are then St. Lucia can look forward to some troubling times ahead because no amount of legislation will be able to deliver respite in the short term. If this is where we are, we need to take a deep dive into the hard decisions that need to be taken to avert worse in the long run. It means starting in the primary education system in addition to actually holding parents responsible. Responsible for what you ask? Too often some who produce offspring are not held accountable for the upbringing, proper socialization or whereabouts of those individuals who are expected to eventually be productive citizens, be guided by the rule of law and even command powerful offices on the island. If this sounds difficult that is because it is. We only have to convince the entire country that that is what is needed.
And what does all this have to do with protecting women? Conflict resolution and the apparent inability to handle emotional situations appear to be the centre pieces of domestic violence and violence against women and if properly attended to may represent the beginning of more favourable times ahead.
It must also be seriously considered that violence against women is also inflicted by women as well, which compounds the proposed resolutions further.
In the meantime, the police must sharpen their approach to the issue of domestic violence and violence against women. At the heart of a few of the last gruesome murders involving females were perceptions that the system failed even while the victims cried out for help. That is particularly evidenced by the call for a commission of inquiry into the Joy St. Omer murder which has now been authorized.
It is without a doubt that the government, the police and the country as a whole has a mammoth task to be dealt with, a mission that, once again, must involve the majority of our 180,000 plus population.
If this country of our is truly religious then the scripture provides clear guidance that we believe aptly applies. Proverbs 22:6 says “train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
It is believed that sometimes the best solutions are among the most uncomplicated.