By Robert A. Emmanuel
Young persons need a safe space to express their thoughts and concerns freely, especially as it relates to discussing acts of gender-based violence (GBV).
Those were the thoughts of Brenda Lee Browne, Project Coordinator for the Integrated Health Outreach (IHO) coalition building workshop, who said there is an insufficient number of those safe spaces for young people.
Browne was speaking on Observer Radio yesterday about her training workshop which focuses on creating a sustainable coalition against GBV.
“We have lots of groups and individuals doing fabulous work on the ground, but we don’t have a safe space, there is not an official shelter for victims…[and] by safe space, I don’t just mean the school counsellor who has 300 children to deal with plus staff …[counsellors] cannot do it by themselves.
“We need a space where young people can go and know it is secure and what they are saying [will not reach their family members],” she explained.
GBV refers to “harmful acts directed at an individual based on their gender. It is rooted in gender inequality, the abuse of power and harmful norms” as defined by the United Nations Refugee Agency.
However, while most cases tend to involve male against female violence, men are also not spared from being on the receiving end of GBV.
“Men here in Antigua and Barbuda and the Caribbean do not have a safe space to vent emotionally…so when a man is in a situation where he needs to say something, sadly some of the default is physical,” Browne noted.
She added that, “Gender-based violence affects everyone—no matter class, gender, sexuality, age—we are all affected directly or indirectly by [GBV].
“Governments cannot always deal with social issues; they either do not have the funding or they lack the political will or a combination of both, so we need community groups, NGOs, faith-based groups to come together to tackle this epidemic.”
Whenever discussions surrounding GBV arise, it is often expected that there must be evidence of physical violence among the involved parties. However, as Browne explains, abuse takes many forms.
“When you are being abused, there is economic abuse, emotional abuse, mental abuse, isolation and manipulation, the physical [abuse] might come at the end or may just be a threat so there are variations to gender-based violence,” she said.
During Browne’s interview on Tuesday’s Observer AM show, the issue of how police officers react to claims of abuse arose. Browne argued that there needs to be a wider national conversation on how people are taught about gender-based violence.
“I know that there is a unit trained under the Gender Affairs Department within the police force to deal with sexually-based violent offences and some GBV…but I think the training should start at the [Police Training Academy] and that is a bigger project than IHO,” she said.
She added that more discussions need to be held on how to better handle GBV cases as well as holding training sessions in schools and via the media.
The Integrated Health Outreach project, according to Browne, started nearly four months ago, and focusses on building a stronger understanding on all forms on gender-based violence.
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