The threat of gender based violence remains prevalent.
Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Adrian Forde said an International Development Bank survey had revealed that the problem still persisted.
He was addressing the congregation during the Bureau of Gender Affairs service at the Ellerton Wesleyan Holiness Church in St George yesterday, International Women’s Day.
Forde underscored the importance of public sensitisation and the need for immediate and strategic actions for solutions, stating that the bureau had started conversations with the Barbados Police Service and the Attorney General’s office about gender-based violence and violence against women.
“Coming out of these discussions what we realised was that there was still a need for public sensitisation and discourse. We don’t really need an IDB survey to tell us that. There is still a need for public discussion about gender-based violence, violence against women and the vulnerable categories in this country and the survey showed there is still a threat of gender-based violence,” he said.
Forde noted that ads were placed at 11 bus stops to signify the importance of respecting women and vulnerable groups but the goal was to have them across the country.
Focusing on the changing family structure, the Minister cited statistics from the UN Women which showed that approximately 42 per cent of households in Barbados were headed by single females, a figure of which no one should be proud.
He said through the one family programme, the Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs continued to support vulnerable households, working with the families to create a sustainable structure and providing the social, economic and psychological solutions.
Forde also spoke of the recently established Social Empowerment Agency and the launch of its first satellite office in St Philip, stating that additional offices will be established to improve access to social services.
Meanwhile, Deaconess Janet Sealey used the biblical account of the daughters of Zelophehad to speak on the courage of women. In Numbers 27
the women approached Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and the entire assembly at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting requesting their father’s inheritance rights.
Without any brothers to inherit their father’s land, their family inheritance stood to be lost unless the women were allowed to receive it.
She told the congregation that some situations required empathy and compassion but there were some who did not conform to those rules regardless of the circumstances. She challenged those present in management positions to lead using those two values.
“We are not dealing with robots, we are dealing with people and we need to show compassion and care. Discretion is operating with heart and all of us have a heart,” she said.
She encouraged the congregants to be proud of their family name and stressed that in order to preserve that name they needed to be proud of who their parents were, especially if they were persons of quality, who did outstanding work in their community.
In attendance at the service were Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Wayne Marshall, president of the Barbados Association of Retired Persons Marilyn Rice-Bowen and members of the association as well as president of the National Organisation of Women Melissa Savoury-Gittens. (AJ)
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