RIGHTS OF WOMEN

Monday’s celebration of International Women’s Day in Trinidad and Tobago and other countries will count for nothing if not enough is done to seriously address the negative issues facing women which are highlighted at each observance of the Day. Whether the issues be domestic violence, prejudice in corporate boardrooms, the still lingering tendency to offer women lower paid jobs in private enterprise; demanding sex in return for employment or even giving women prizes of lower value than those offered to men at Carnival competitions and sporting events, women do not have to be passive victims of male insecurity. Regrettably, it is only in the Public Service that women, generally speaking, can expect as of right to rise to the top, and today many of the posts of Permanent Secretaries which were formerly held by men are today occupied by women. Here the system of recognition on the basis of merit is more or less strictly applied. Yet, when the post of Permanent Secretary was introduced in 1950, effective stumbling blocks were placed in the way of women’s upward mobility.

In the classrooms girls are applying themselves more than boys, and increasingly over the years results have demonstrated that girls have been doing progressively better than the boys. And while it was not until 1946 that a secondary schoolgirl, Kathleen Smith, won an Island Scholarship, scholarships today are equally divided among boys and girls. The reason is that not only are girls better motivated today, but the old belief by all too many parents in emphasising marriage as a goal and a be all has been replaced by today’s parents actively encouraging their daughters to be achievers. Yet despite the advances made by many schoolgirls in examination rooms, and by women in the work place and corporate board rooms, too many are still subjected to needless abuse by classmates, spouses and/or by partners. It is an abuse tacitly encouraged by male Police officers who hesitate or refuse to act on spousal abuse on the spurious ground that they do “not want to interfere in husband and wife business”. It is a copout and an anachronistic gender rallying that should have no place in an age where instead it should be fashionable to promote equality.

But not all the blame lies with men as some women, perhaps due to mind conditioning over the years by their parents and/or male siblings, still tend to be less assertive than their male counterparts. There should be a change in the accent placed year in year out when International Women’s Day comes around. Instead of organisers and speaker after speaker trotting out the many ills besetting women greater emphasis should be placed on teaching them how to be assertive, how to cope and move ahead. In turn, while it is necessary to bring to the attention of the wider community the negatives faced by many women there should be equal emphasis given with respect to the many successful women today and how they were able to forge ahead. The annual repetition of complaints is not only tiresome, but portrays a false picture. The opportunities are not merely there, but many women have seized them, and this should be highlighted. Twenty-first century women are not simply victims. Many are victors as well.