Gender parity and equal standards

On May 1, 2025, in what has been described as a “groundbreaking” moment in Caribbean frontline politics, Kamla Persad-Bissessar of the United National Congress (UNC) became the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. Perhaps even more interesting than this is the fact that this is the second time she has been elected to this position.

What makes this groundbreaking, then, is not that a woman now has the position of Prime Minister, but that woman hold the top three constitutional offices in Trinidad and Tobago. Pennelope Beckles-Robinson is the leader of the opposition, the People’s National Movement (PNM). Christine Kangaloo, who has been president since 2023, was responsible for swearing them in.

Last week, social media was full of posts by Caribbean people celebrating the moment, highlighting these three women in these three positions, asserting that it is not only progress, but an uncomplicated achievement. It is not unusual for social media posts to lack gender analysis, and it is not unusual for people to see numerical and proportional increases as synonymous with the true advancement of women. Quantity, as we all should know, is not quality, so there is more to consider.

Following the US presidential election, Persad-Bissessar, as the (then) Opposition Leader, made clear her position on the Biden administration. She said, “They focused on pushing a woke, extreme left-wing agenda that offended basic common sense and morality, overturned the norms of civilised public life, disoriented and mutilated children, censored and cancelled dissenting views, disparaged religious and conservative values, fuelled wars around the world, weaponised the judicial system against political opponents and increased nepotism, corruption, crime, poverty, homelessness, and wealth inequality.”

Persad-Bissessar went on to congratulate and celebrate the current US president. She said: “He has survived assassination attempts, political persecution, and years of personal attacks, but he triumphed in the end.” She added: “I look forward to the return of meritocracy, excellence, and intelligence as a standard criterion for accessing equal opportunities.”

This position is cause for concern for anyone who cares about and is committed to the achievement of gender equality and full access to human rights, especially for those in situations of vulnerability including women, children, LGBTQI+ people, people with disabilities, and people experiencing poverty, all of whom are disproportionately affected and deliberately targeted by the dangerous actions taking by the current US administration.

We do need more women in positions of leadership. We do need to reach gender parity in all levels of governments. We do need women to have decision-making power. We do need women to design and implement policies that move us toward gender equality. Women, however, are not all the same. We are not a homogenous group. There are women who benefit from existing systems of oppression and who are committed to maintaining their positions, even at significant cost to other women. There are women who do not want to be the woman to make the statement or take the action that demonstrates commitment to gender equality and the advancement of all women, often because it is more comfortable to come close to fitting in (with other leaders and decision-makers, the majority of whom are men).

Feminist advocates know this. This awareness is the source of the clear distinction between “women’s groups” and women who are political aspirants who call for more women in parliament and the feminist advocates who acknowledge the nuances and call for more feminist women and women who support women’s rights in positions of leadership at all levels.

Ahead of the 65th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in 2021, stakeholders from across the Caribbean worked together to develop a regional position on the theme, “Women’s full and effective participation and decision-making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.” The conversations had significant focus on women’s political leadership, ways to reach gender parity in frontline politics, and the markers of gender equality in leadership that extend beyond numbers and into outcomes, both for women and girls and for entire countries.

When gender equality and women’s leadership—particularly in the areas of political life and public life—is discussed, people focus almost exclusively on numbers. Just as there are difference among men in positions of leadership, there are differences among women in positions of leadership.

There are differences in beliefs and values, in skills, in leadership practices, in personal and professional interests, and in ideas and vision of success. It is easy for people to make assumptions about women in positions of leadership based on what they think they know. There are many gender stereotypes that are taken to be true, often entirely due to the frequency with which they are stated as though they are facts and the infrequency of them being refuted. Women do not all lead in the same way. Men do not all lead in the same way either. These facts do not necessarily change the longstanding ideas people have about the differences between women and men and what they mean for abilities and outcomes. This is a primary reason for the focus on gender, what it means, what it does not mean, and how it is used to limit opportunities.

Feminist advocates for women’s political leadership know that numbers are important. The call for women’s leadership in public and political life extends beyond women receiving nominations, getting votes, and being elected into office. It is for harmful gender ideology to be eradicated and social norms to change. It is for the creation of an enabling environment for women’s participation and leadership in public and political life. It is for increased positive representation of women in leadership in media. It is for early exposure to policymaking and spaces and processes. It is for the development of opportunities for women and girls to lead and conditions under which leadership by women and girls is supported, celebrated, and normalised.

Regarding the political moment in Trinidad and Tobago, Dr Gabrielle Hosein, lecturer at the Institute for Gender and Development Studies at the University of the West Indies St Augustine’s campus said, “In Trinidad and Tobago’s political history, having three different kinds of women leaders right now is unprecedented and historic.” Importantly, she noted that these wins are symbolic. “We have to see if they lead to ‘substantive’ wins, meaning approaches to governance that are less domineering and antagonistic and more inclusive and transformative, and create greater social, economic and gender justice,” she said.

Feminist advocates hold multiple truths. One is that women have the right to hold positions of leadership and decision-making power, and this is not contingent on any trainings or alignment on sociopolitical issues any more than is the case for men. Another is that the progress we need, particularly on women’s rights, gender equality, and social development, requires the participation and leadership of feminist women and women who are committed to working on achieving these goals, even in the face of great opposition, (from) wherever it rears its head.

This means that, just as many men in leadership are mediocre, women have the right to be mediocre in leadership. Just as men enter frontline politics without training, women can enter frontline politics without training. This, however, is not where the bar must be set. It is discriminatory to hold women to a different (and higher) standard than that to which we hold men, so must set higher expectations for all leaders while acknowledging the importance of increasing women’s representation to reach gender parity. This increases the visibility of women as leaders, demonstrates possibilities to young women and girls, normalises women’s leadership, and makes it possible for more women to take feminist positions not only at the personal level, but professionally, within the walls of parliament, cabinet, and the senate.

Published in The Tribune on May 7, 2025.

May 7, 2025/0 Comments/by Bianca Giulione

Activism, Bahamas, Feminism, Politics

Importance of community when systems fail

Systems are failing us all the time. These system failures lead to unfavorable conditions. They affect our daily lives. They affect our wellbeing. We have been, however, trained not ignore systems and to focus on the individual. We look for the ways that an individual has done less than their best, or the ways that we ourselves have somehow contribute to the situation we find uncomfortable, dangerous, or otherwise subpar.

We have a tendency to turn on and blame one another for failures rather than being attentive to the ways that systems malfunction or, in as is often the case, successfully degrade, endanger, subjugate, and limit us and our positive life outcomes.

Last week, someone posted in a popular Facebook group about the gates at public elementary schools being closed until eight o’clock in the morning. The person raised the safety issue this causes after a child “decided to jump in front of [their] car” and they slammed on the breaks to avoid hitting the child. They referenced recent events that let us know that there are safety concerns that must be considered with regard to school-age children. The post also included a note about the children failing to listen to the security guard before this change to the gate opening time was made.

The issue the post raised is valid. With the school gate closed until eight o’clock, when teachers are at work, there is a significant amount of time that children are outside of the premises and without supervision. Given the traffic on the road from seven o’clock to nine o’clock in the morning, the eight and nine o’clock start times for far too many jobs, the start time for school, and the inefficiency and safety issues of public transportation, parents are often forced to drop their children to school quite early to ensure that the children get to school on time and they are on time for work.

Somehow, many of the comments ignored the issue the person raised, instead casting blame on parents. Numerous people suggested that parents think it is someone else’s responsibility to supervise their children outside of school hours. Some referenced the disrespect and rudeness of children and the need for parents to better train and discipline their children. Others pointed out the school is not for babysitting children. A few noted that the eight o’clock opening of the gate is a Ministry of Education policy. These may all be interesting points that can explored further. The issue that remains is the inability of many parents to take their children to school at a later time or wait at the school until the gate opens. The options may be for children to miss school or to be there early, before the gate is open.

It a quite common for people to respond to systemic issues by imposing a set of rules or practices, however unrealistic, on individuals. There are sometimes ways that we can improve our lives and make more options available to ourselves, but we cannot bootstrap ourselves out of poverty and the same is true for other conditions that extend beyond our personal capacity to change.

There are many who cannot afford a one-bedroom apartment, not because they are unemployed, inept, or lazy, but because minimum wage is not enough money to live independently. People who are employed and unhoused do not need to be told to get jobs. They have jobs, and the problem is both the rate of pay and the incompatibility of the rate of pay with the actual cost of living. Reducing homelessness does not necessarily require job creation or helping people to find jobs, though this may be helpful for some. It requires a completely different approach to the remuneration of employees and the social services that should support people who are not paid enough to meet their basic needs. A shelter for unhoused people would be a great initiative, and it would not solve the problem. It makes for a good temporary measure while systemic changes are made.

In the case of the school gate opening at eight o’clock and the resulting situation of children being unsupervised and unsafe early in the morning, it may be useful for parents, administrations, teachers, and community members to get together and find a way to create a safe environment for the children who must be taken to school early. Opening the gate and having security to ensure only children and staff gain access may be considered ideal. Others may think there should be a “holding place” for the children before the gate opens, but this still requires adult supervision. We can think of many ways to address this issue on site, but the root of the issue would still be there. There is a system that needs to change.

School hours and work hours are not harmonised, and employers are not responsive to the needs of employees who are full human beings—not just staff, but have other responsibilities as family members and friends.

The 9-to-5 and 8-to-4 work schedule has taken root and become the standard, even in a country that is heavily dependent on the tourism industry (which requires shift work) along with other service industries. Many administrative job functions do not need to be performed during specific hours. Many businesses and customers would benefit from different open hours. There are numerous adjustments that can be made.

While New Providence is not growing in size, the number of cars on the road seem to keep increasing. Traffic is a mess almost all day, every day. It takes far too long to get from one place to another, all because of the number of cars on the road at any given time (and the ways they are driven). This can be alleviated with adjustments to the work day and overall flexibility in work schedules. Everyone does not need to be at work at eight or nine in the morning. Some can begin work at ten or eleven o’clock. We can go into detail about the ways this could benefit businesses, but it is really enough to recognise the benefits to workers and their families. That, on its own, is important, but it is not reflected in workplace practices because the priority is profit. That is the rule of capitalism, of course, yet we are all living in the world, living in this country, where we could all benefit from a better ecosystem, and that begins with support for families.

What needs to change with regard to the rights of workers? What do employers need to do differently? How can we make it possible for people to be as high-performing in their families as they are on their jobs? What have we accepted as normal or standard that need not be? How can we train ourselves to think beyond the individual, resist the urge to cast blame, and set about creating solutions that can be applied at the systemic level, for the benefit of all?

As we continue to navigate the challenges of a world that is unchanging in many ways, yet changing in ways that terrify and terrorize many, it is important that we remember the importance of community. We have a responsibility to be attentive, not only to individual and familial needs, but to the needs of the collective. We, as community members, need to actively care for one another, understanding the value of human life and the necessity of combining our efforts to assess problems, create solutions, and advocate for systemic change that is the responsibility of the people we elected to represent us.

National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month, so it is a good time to revisit favorite poems, pick up a book of poetry, or even put pen to paper to write a poem or two. To join the people participating in National Poetry Writing Month, send a message to Poinciana Paper Press on Facebook or Instagram to request an add to the WhatsApp group. The group will write a collective poem at Sovereign, the exhibition open at Poinciana Paper Press on Wednesday, April 9, at 6pm, and those in New Providence will meet at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas on Sunday, April 13, at 2pm for a field trip that includes a look at this year’s National Exhibition and writing together.

“For Nothing Is Fixed” by James Baldwin

For nothing is fixed,

forever, forever, forever,

it is not fixed;

the earth is always shifting,

the light is always changing,

the sea does not cease to grind down rock.

Generations do not cease to be born,

and we are responsible to them

because we are the only witnesses they have.

The sea rises, the light fails,

lovers cling to each other,

and children cling to us.

The moment we cease to hold each other,

the moment we break faith with one another,

the sea engulfs us and the light goes out.

Published in The Tribune on April 9, 2025.

April 9, 2025/0 Comments/by Bianca Giulione

Activism, Bahamas, Feminism, Politics

The International Women’s Day march is over. Now, what’s being done on the issues?

International Women’s Day has, once again, come and gone. It is still Women’s History Month, however, and this is a good time to look at the progress made on women’s rights and be attentive to the persisting issues and what each and every person can and must do to affect change. Advocates, non-governmental organisations, and members of the public look to the government to make necessary changes to laws and policies in order to eliminate gender-based violence against women and combat gender-based discrimination. Businesses, though, are not often thought of or called upon to do their part.

Most of us spend our most valuable time at work and the workplace shapes our lives, both by what it demands of us, what it exposes us to, and the constraints it imposes on our lives. We must, then, look to employers to see us all as human beings, recognised that we have full lives, face the ways they contribute to gender inequality, and make adjustments so that that workplaces are not only productive, but responsive to the needs of the employees who keep them running.

Here are four policies that businesses need to adopt rather than waiting for the government take action and force the changes across the board:

1. Sexual Harassment Policy.

In 2025, there should be no business that does not have a sexual harassment policy. Even small businesses need to have human resource manuals and employee handbooks that acknowledge sexual harassment as a form of workplace discrimination, explains what it is and the forms it takes, and explicitly states that it will not be tolerate. There must be a clearly articulated procedure for reporting sexual harassment and handling the complaint.

2. Provide expanded parental leave.

The law currently allows for 13 weeks of maternity leave. There is no leave for fathers. These are both issues which become obvious when one becomes a parent and faces the reality of the healing process for mothers and the bonding that needs to happen with both mothers and fathers. Employers do not need to wait for law to make the necessary changes. Some companies have already taken small steps by providing paid leave to fathers, though the leave period is quite short. Both parents need time at home with their newborn. The birthing parents experiences pain, discomfort, and difficulty moving on her own, so she often requires assistances. The other parent needs to be present to provide that support and to participate in the care of the newborn.

Women face consequences of maternity leave when they return to work. It is not limited to people referring to this health leave as “vacation” or having bad attitudes due to the change in workload or dynamics during the mother’s absence, but includes the complete exclusion from opportunities for growth and promotion as people make decisions for her because she is a mother “can’t” do certain things like work late or travel for work. When men have leave, it helps to level the field in multiple ways. It challenges the idea that women are solely responsible for childcare, it gives men the opportunity to learn about and participate childcare alongside the women, and it combats the gender discrimination at work with both men and women benefitting from leave and face the reality of returning to work.

3. Implement C190 and R206.

The Bahamas ratified the International Labor Organization’s Convention 190 (C190) on Eliminating Violence and Harassment in the World of Work in November 2022. While the International Organization allows one year from the date of ratification for its Conventions to come into force, C190 has yet to be implemented.

Convention 190 defines the world of work broadly, extending beyond what may usually be considered the office, store, worksite, or other distinct area in which work is undertaken. Article 3 says:

“This Convention applies to violence and harassment in the world of work occurring in the course of, linked with or arising out of work:

(a) in the workplace, including public and private spaces where they are a place of work;

(b) in places where the worker is paid, takes a rest break or a meal, or uses sanitary, washing and changing facilities;

(d) through work-related communications, including those enabled by information and communication technologies;

(e) in employer-provided accommodation; and

(f) when commuting to and from work.”

Employers have a responsibility to create and maintain work environments that are free of harassment and violence. Recommendation 206 (R206), which accompanies C190 is an excellent place for employers to start as it includes the concrete actions that can be taken toward to the elimination of violence and harassment in the world of work.

It states, for example, that workplace policy should:

(a) state that violence and harassment will not be tolerated;

(b) establish violence and harassment prevention programmes with, if appropriate, measurable objectives;

(d) contain information on complaint and investigation procedures;

(e) provide that all internal and external communications related to incidents of violence and harassment will be duly considered, and acted upon as appropriate;

(f) specify the right to privacy of individuals and confidentiality, as referred to in Article 10(c) of the Convention, while balancing the right of workers to be made aware of all hazards; and

(g) include measures to protect complainants, victims, witnesses and whistle-blowers against victimisation or retaliation.

4. Flexible working hours.

While most people have to work full time in order to meet basic needs, there are demands beyond the workplace because we all live more full, complex lives than robots designed to produce, produce, produce. By law, all children of school age must be enrolled in and attend school. They need to be transported to and from school and, in many cases, this requires the involvement of at least one adult who has the use of a car or can accompany them by bus. This is the safest option for children who are young, small, impressionable, sexualised, and at-risk of harm at the hands of adult predators. Being an employee and being a parent are not mutually exclusive. Many parents have to leave work during the work day to collect their children from school and take them home or to another place where it is expected that they will be supervised and remain safe. The eight-hour work day with one hour break does not accommodate this specific, common need.

Many parents use their lunch hours for school pickup. This has become a norm, but it is not acceptable. It means a large proportion of employees do not have time to eat lunch — necessary for the physical health and cognitive function — or to take care of themselves in other ways, including having a break from their tasks. In addition, with most schools ending the day at the same time, causing an increase in traffic on the road, one hour is not sufficient. Not only would it be helpful to allow for flexible work hours, but it would be beneficial to make allowances for more flexible work structure and location, including the option to work from home. Working from home for part of the day — for example, from 1pm to 5pm — or two to three days per week can assist employees in making the most of their work days while attending to their personal and familial needs. This also contributes to wellbeing in the workplace.

By extending these options to all employees, employers make it possible for fathers to be more full participants in the lives of their children by meeting one of their practical needs. When both mothers and fathers do the school run, there is less distinction between mothers and fathers which can lead to the end of stigma against mothers who are judged and punished for being mothers and having certain responsibilities laid at their feet with no support from fathers who are left to excel at work.

Gender-based violence against women and gender inequality are linked. Ending violence against women and achieving gender equality require the same kinds and levels of work. We are saddled with one lousy government administration after another, and we have to make our demands more consistently and loudly with every general election, and employers are left to do the bare minimum. This has to change. We must continue to pressure the government, and we must demand more of employers. The cost of treating employees like human beings can not be accepted as an excuse for inhumane practices and failures to adjust to the changing reality and the knowledge we gain which should result in change. Any business that cannot afford to implement policies and programs that reduce and eventually eradicate gender-based violence and discrimination cannot afford to be in business. They need to crunch the numbers and figure it out. Workers are not just means of production. Workers are people, with human needs and human rights. Employers need to step up and take action, even as the government fails to lead the way.

Published in The Tribune on March 12, 2025.

March 12, 2025/0 Comments/by Bianca Giulione

Activism, Bahamas, Feminism, Gender-Based Violence, Politics

‘Rape is rape’, except in our laws it isn’t

“Prime” describes minister. Every minister is not the prime minister. The prime minister is a specific type of minister. We can talk about minister in general, and we can acknowledge that different ministers are treated differently. In particular, the prime minister is quite different from other ministers given the specific aspects of the position that other ministers do not have.

In “curry chicken,” curry describes chicken. Every chicken dish is not curry chicken. We can talk about chicken dishes generally and at length, and we can acknowledge that all chicken dishes are not exactly the same. There are numerous chicken dishes that, for example, contain tomatoes. There are some that do not necessarily have tomatoes. Each variety of chicken dishes is distinct, though a part of this general group.

Adjectives are used to make a distinction between nouns that may otherwise be groups together and could be inappropriately treated as the same. Sometimes the adjectives are used for harmful division, causing difference in treatment that are discriminatory and lead to violent outcomes. Many adjectives are used to describe and mark difference between women who are, otherwise, all a part of one group. There are black women, working class women, migrant women, and married women. These are all women, and each subgroup, with the adjective adding description, has shared experiences that are different from those of other subgroups.

Married women share some experiences with unmarried woman because of their share womanhood, but some experiences are specific to married women. In fact, marriage comes with consequences for women, and this is why we have to talk about marital. It is the exclusion of spouses—married people—from the definition of rape in the Sexual Offences Act that makes it necessary for us to talk about marital rape when we should be able to talk about rape without the descriptor.

Why does the prime minister have a problem with describing rape?

There is actually a better question. Does the prime minister actually care about describing rape and the reason the term “marital rape” is being used? Use of this term is not without reason. It is a result of the fact that the Sexual Offences Act currently excludes married people from the definition of rape. One spouse can rape the other without legal consequence due to the exclusion, through “who is not his spouse” at the end of the definition of rape in Section 3 of the Sexual Offenses Act. “Marital rape”, then, is a term we use to talk about the specific act of sexual violence that the law not only does not address, but explicitly communicates disinterest and inaction with regard to it. The term “marital rape” is only used because the law has separated rape of a spouse by a spouse from every other rape.

To complain about “describing rape,” knowing the legal context and importance of advocacy—with precise language—to criminalise it is ridiculous. Unless we are to believe the prime minister is not particularly intelligent and passed the bar by a fluke, we can only read this nonsense opposition to the use of the term—which we need in order to address this issue—as disingenuous and especially disrespectful to the affected people and the people advocating for legal reform to make the use of the term unnecessary.

Women’s right organisations and advocates have not asked for rape to be “described”. In fact, we have clearly stated that there is no type of rape or descriptor of rape that makes it better or worse. There is rape by strangers. There is rape that occurs on dates. There is rape that is perpetrated by multiple people. There is rape that is connected to hatred of LGBTQI+ people. There is rape perpetrated by family members. There is rape that is facilitated by drugs. Yes, there is marital rape. Yes, rape is rape. The law, however, does not reflect these truths.

This is not the first time the prime minister has spewed this nonsense about marital rape and his personal dislike for the term. He made the same comment in April 2024. It is as absurd this year as it was last year. There is no need to consult on the issue, especially when the prime minister has stated that “rape is rape”. What is there to discuss or debate? Get rid of the categories of rape. Make the “descriptions” of rape useless.

Here is a one-step guide to getting rid of “marital rape” as a descriptor of rape: Criminalise marital rape by amending Section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act to remove “who is not his spouse” so that the marital exception is not in the law and all rape becomes illegal, regardless of any relationship that may exist between the perpetrator and the survivor or victim. The #Strike5ive campaign by Equality Bahamas clearly states additional amendments to make it strong, explicit, and free of loopholes.

Recommendations

1. Join Feminist Book Club in reading What Happened to Belén by Ana Elena Correa in March. Ana Elena Correa is a lawyer, journalist, and women’s rights activist in Argentina and this book is about Belén, a 25-year-old woman who did not know that she was pregnant and had a miscarriage. Doctors reported her to the authorities and she was imprisoned. This sparked the #niunamas—not one more—feminist movement which led to the decriminalisation of abortion in Argentina in 2021. Literary Hub said, “Ana Correa poignantly recounts how so many systems failed Belén, the movement that sprung to action to free her… an essential read detailing the harms created by police in healthcare settings, abortion stigma, and the criminalization of pregnancy outcomes whether it’s in Argentina or the United States of America.”

2. Plan to participate in the International Women’s Day March + Expo hosted by Equality Bahamas. The annual event will begin at the Eastern Parade (lawn east of Scotiabank on East Bay, accessible by vehicular traffic from Dowdeswell Street) at 8:45am when participants will gather for the march to The Dundas grounds on Mackey Street. Upon arrival at The Dundas, the International Women’s Day Expo will open with Zumba with Ms. Deidree followed by concurrents sessions including poetry writing, salsa dancing, and yoga, a dedicated space for art by Sixty 2 Sixty Art Gallery, a fun zone for children by Sustainable Me Summer Camp, and nongovernmental organizations including Bahamas Crisis Centre, The Dignified Girl Project, and Hands for Hunger. It is a great place to spend the day with family, friends, and new people and to engage in fun activities without having to spend money on site.

Published in The Tribune on February 19, 2025.

February 19, 2025/0 Comments/by Bianca Giulione

Activism, Bahamas, Feminism

Maternity: Putting people over profit

The world of work, with all of its complexities and far-reaching impact, is a fascinating one to explore, especially alongside society and its stagnation in some areas and changes others. We have learned to measure ourselves and our worth based on what we are able to (tangibly) produce. Even outside of the formal workplace, people feel the need to be productive. There is always work to do. Even in engaging in hobbies, there is the impetus to do more, more, more and, perhaps more devastatingly, to monetise. Very little is done for the sheer enjoyment of the activity. Even leisure is turned into work, or there is a significant, persistent encouragement to turn what was once fun into a money-making venture.

The push toward entrepreneurship was strong at the turn of the millennium, and not much has changed since then. People convince one another that it is good to struggle, that it will eventually pay off, and that the rags to riches stories can belong to everyone. Side hustles are the norm and have even become necessary for the survival of far too many people. After a while, there is pressure to somehow level up, and that could mean renting a brick and mortar space, significantly increasing the overhead cost, needing to produce even more to cover those costs, hiring people to help and not being able to pay them a fair wage, and pinching pennies in the (often futile) attempt to make ends meet. People, regardless of socioeconomic status, get caught up, quite easily, in the dream that capitalism tries to sell us—that we can all benefit from the capitalist system that only sees people as means of production and amassing wealth, if only we find people to subjugate with the promise of wages and benefits that are somehow better than abject poverty.

The same system that drags so many out of bed early in the morning to sit in traffic for more than hour to get to work on an island that is only 21 by 7 miles to be paid less than a living wage, all in the name of production, requires reproduction. Capitalism does not work without a labour force. It does not work without people. For capitalism to continue to function, babies have to be born, children have to raised and education, and people have to work for the money they need to survive. Capitalism needs people to reproduce. It requires both productive and reproductive labour from all of us. Productive labour is the work that produces commodities for capitalist enterprises, producing surplus value. Reproductive labour is the work, including paid and unpaid cleaning, cooking, and childcare, that makes productive labour possible.

The economy is such that people of all genders are necessarily engaged in productive labour. Households require two or more incomes to function. It is no longer the norm for men to go out to work and women stay at home to manage the household and the children. Everyone must work. At the same time, reproductive labour must be done. While the responsibility to bring in an income for a household to function has been redistributed to include women (with the acknowledgement that black women have always been engaged in productive work), reproductive labour has largely remained on the shoulders of women. Women, then, work a second shift. Women go to work all day, then return to home to prepare meals, clean the house, do the laundry, go through the homework, check on elderly family members, make the grocery list, and complete tasks that men may never even think about. This is not where it ends.

Women not only engage in productive labour (and for less money than men are paid for work of the same value as evidenced by numerous reports) and reproductive labour (for no pay if it is in their own households and low pay if it is in the household(s) of others); women also bear the cost of reproductive labour. Though pregnancy is different for every pregnant person, it is never without its scars and long-lasting effects. The body goes through drastic changes, there are medical expenses that sometimes require loans, and there is significant impact on careers. Women are punished by the workplace for taking maternity leave and for being mothers.

It is absolutely necessary for mothers to have maternity leave, both to recover from harrowing medical procedures and to bond with their babies. In The Bahamas, women get three months of maternity leave which is insufficient. It takes longer than three months to heal following the delivery of a baby, breastfeeding is recommended for six months, and nurseries do not take babies as young as three months old. The absence of paternity leave is also a challenge. It is absolutely necessary for fathers to have leave to support the recovery of the mothers and to bond with their babies. Expecting a person who has just given birth to take care of themselves while caring for a newborn who must be fed, held, and changed with great frequency is absurd and inhumane. Where there are two parents, they both need to be involved from the very beginning. This is important for the health of the mother, the health of the baby, and the change in societal expectations that women undertake all of the domestic and care work. Women and men both need to be involved in the lives of their children, and we all need to understand the importance of their equal involvement. Changing the law to ensure that father have access to paternity leave is one way to make it clear that reproductive labour must be shared.

There is tremendous stigma in the workplace related to women, maternity leave, and motherhood. Women are often reluctant to take maternity leave or to request additional leave when pregnancy-related health issues arise. Women’s careers are negatively affected by childbirth. Managers and coworkers complain about the planned absence during maternity leave, and it is not uncommon for managers to withhold opportunities for advancement. Some hiring managers are even reluctant to hire women who they suspect will have children, not wanting the business to be impacted by maternity leave or the responsibilities that everyone knows come with motherhood but seem to separate from fatherhood. Paternity leave would also shift this dynamic, making it clear that women and men are engaged in social reproduction and need to be involved in their children’s lives. The work of producing labourers for the continuation of the capitalist system should not be punished.

Small business in The Bahamas are struggling for many reasons. The cost of doing business—inclusive of the failed systems and long wait times for completion of simplest of processes—in this country is prohibitive to most and destabilising for those managing to get through the tangle. From the cost to purchase or rent commercial property and maintain it to forced closure of businesses and reduced customer and client traffic due to crumbling public infrastructure, small and medium-size businesses have great difficulty getting to and staying in the black. One of the most seemingly flexible costs is human resources, and this can lead to exploitation of workers, especially when they are young, in difficult situations, and unaware of labour laws.

It is no surprise that the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce made a statement against the extension of maternity leave. The Chamber has not shown any signs of progressive thinking or care for workers. The same Chamber opposed the four-day work week just months ago. The priority is, as the name suggests, the exchange of good and services. It does not care of the people whose labour makes commerce possible. The Chamber is not where we need to turn for commentary on human rights, healthcare, or the wellbeing of workers. Small business are often referenced as the scapegoat in claims that they cannot survive certain changes which, of course, are in the best interest of people rather than profit. Many small businesses simply cannot afford to be in business. It is not necessarily a sign of their own foolhardiness or failure. The Bahamas is a difficult place to do business. It is a difficult place to own a business.

A business that cannot afford to follow the law cannot afford to be in business. A business that cannot afford to pay a living wage cannot afford to be in business. A business that cannot afford to pay maternity leave cannot afford to be in business. A business that cannot afford to hire temporary workers when staff members are on parental leave cannot afford to be in business.

The needs of people cannot be secondary to the need for profit. There are many aspects of doing business in The Bahamas that need to change. Many changes can improve the economy and our participation in it. There are measures that can be taken to support small and medium-size businesses, to improve public infrastructure, to implement a living wage, and to support families. The extension of maternity—which ought to be no less than six months, especially if a primary goal to support breastfeeding—and the addition of paternity leave is necessary. It will be beneficial to families and communities, and it will move us toward gender equality. No small business can or should stand in the way of that.

Published in The Tribune on January 15, 2025.

January 15, 2025/0 Comments/by Bianca Giulione

Activism, Bahamas, Feminism, Gender-Based Violence, Sexual Violence

We must put a stop to blaming the victims

It is day 10 of the Global 16 Days Campaign, also known as 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. When the campaign started, on November 25, people were still upset about the rape and murder of 12-year-old Adriel Moxey. People were still upset that, just days after Adriel Moxey’s body was found, it was reported that 72-year-old Vernencha Butler had been raped and murdered. Today, there is hardly any reference made to the girl or to the elderly woman. As always the news cycle moved people along. The focus has been on corruption of police and politicians.

This is why the Global 16 Days Campaign exists. Sixteen days is not nearly enough time to talk about gender-based violence, highlight cases of import, look at recommendations that have been made to The Bahamas, review laws and policies that are discriminatory and violent, or advocate for specific changes. There is always more work to do. The campaign does, however, give us a period of time that is recognised by many institutions and some individuals as necessary, requiring attention, and demanding meaningful action.

The immediate reaction to reports of the rape and murder of Adriel Moxey, and comments following interviews with her mother, showed that the general public is accustomed to focusing on individuals — specifically to blame them —instead of looking at the environment and systems that people are trying to function within when they are not built for our benefit. It is difficult to hear about a tragedy and not be able to place the blame on someone, especially when the blame can help us to deny that the tragedy could ever affect us. People want to think they are too smart, too good, too careful to be victims of tragedy.

It is easy, too, to blame the perpetrator for his violent, horrific crimes. It is actually easier to blame the person who acted in an abominable way than it is to blame people who are not only innocent, but suffering as a result of the tragedy. The Bahamas, however, has practised blaming victims and, in particular, blaming mothers. When a child is missing, when a child is murdered, when a child is apprehended by police, when a child is struggling in school, “Where was the mother?” Even in asking the question, people are generally uninterested in the facts of mothers’ whereabouts and competing responsibilities. People do not want to face the fact that working to get money to meet children’s physical needs is not compatible with meeting the psychosocial needs of children.

Systems designed by the government and private sector do not allow parents to work and be active parents, able to be with their children when school is out. Alternatives are generally not provided — not in the form of flexible work arrangements, and not in the form of childcare. There is nothing less interesting than this to the people screaming out for the heads of mothers except the whereabouts and priorities of the fathers.

The people who have enacted violence are the ones that must carry the blame for what they have done.

We need to change the questions we ask when children are abducted, sexually violated, and murdered. It is not productive to ask why a child was walking. Children walk every day. They walk to school. They walk to the tuck shop. They walk to the grocery store to work. They walk back home. Adults walk too. Sometimes adults are also assaulted. On their way to the bus stop where they expect to be able to catch a bus to go to work. On their way to the grocery store to pick up a few items. On their way to a party. On their way back home. People walk.

Sure, we can ask what it would be like if people did not have to walk. The way to get there, however, is not that everyone owns a car and drives themselves and their dependents everywhere they need to go. A properly functioning, safe, reliable public transportation with extended hours may be a bit closer to where the conversations need to focus. Still there are better questions.

What if we could walk? What if elderly people could walk from church to their homes at 8pm? What if women could walk to the bus stop before daybreak? What if girls could walk home from their after school activities? What if it was simply safe to walk?

We need to consider the reasons that so many need someone— a person — to blame when they failed systems and lack of systems are blatant. We need to consider the reasons that mothers are seen as the only parents, and the only people with any responsibility for their children, even when they cannot be with them at all times. We need to consider the reasons that the first (and sometimes only) idea that many people have is to restrict the movement and freedom of women and girls in an attempt to prevent violence against women and girls. We need to consider the reasons that people are not talking about the very real, very obvious problems which include the fact that we cannot safely walk and the fact that there are many sexual predators and murderers around us. We need to learn to ask better questions. We need to demand more of the government which exists to meet our needs, acknowledging that we cannot meet them all ourselves, through enactment and implementation of laws as well as provision of reliable, quality public goods and services.

Remaining Global 16 Days Campaign events, hosted by Equality Bahamas.

Wednesday, December 4: Managing Disasters, with Barrise Griffin

Barrise Griffin is known as the the Master of Disaster. Her work focuses on critically examining the social perceptions of risk to create more effective strategies in disaster preparedness and response throughout the Caribbean. Equality Bahamas will be in conversation with Barrise Griffin about disaster management, putting focus on disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. Disaster management cannot be about individual actions, contingent on our limited resources. To be effective, it has to be systemic and for the benefit of all. Join the session to find out about existing systems for disaster management and what The Bahamas still needs to build. Register: tiny.cc/16daysgriffin

Thursday, December 5: Femicide in the Caribbean, with Taitu Heron

Since 2020, Equality Bahamas has included advocacy to end femicide in its Global 16 Days Campaign activities. In 2023, we had a conversation with Myrna Dawson about her work to build and maintain the Canadian Femicide Observatory. Taitu Heron attended the event and later connected with Myrna Dawson and decided to conduct research on femicide in The Bahamas, Barbados, and Jamaica. Femicide is the killing of a woman or girl because of her sex or gender. The term is not used in The Bahamas or the rest of the Caribbean which means the killings of women and girls are not properly counted or analysed. We’ll be in conversation with Taitu Heron about her research on femicide in select countries in the Caribbean. We are looking forward to finding a way forward in research on femicide and ensuring that cases are recorded and the analysis contributes to the work to prevent femicide and gender-based violence. Register: tiny.cc/16daysheron.

Saturday, December 7: Making Our Rage Visible, with Sonia Farmer and Margot Bethel at Poinciana Paper Press.

We need time and space to engage with the arts and create art of our own. Equality Bahamas partners with Poinciana Paper Press to host and facilitate sessions to bring people together to try new activities, have discussions, and create items imbued that are useful, beautiful, and meaningful to everyone involved. On Saturday, people are welcome to drop in at any time between 10am and 5pm to try block printing (which will involve making a stamp) and screen printing. Participation in these activities come with the gift of newly printed pieces, including a bandana that is part of a limited run and connect with a campaign by Equality Bahamas. This event, as with all Equality Bahamas events, is free of charge.

Monday, December 9: Writing Our Rage, with Staceyann Chin at Poinciana Paper Press.

Staceyann Chin is known across the Caribbean and all over the US as a poet who writes and speaks her rage with a conviction and energy that brings other people into it. There is limited capacity in the writing workshop she will facilitate for people interested in getting their rage on the page. No experience in writing poetry is necessary to join this workshop. Register: tiny.cc/ragewriting

Tuesday, December 10: Let’s Make a Rage Book! with Sonia Farmer at Poinciana Paper Press.

Making a book is challenging, fun experience. Doing it in a group is even more fun because everyone can see the skills in the room. Each person is always particularly good at one of the tasks, and no one can really guess which person will be best at which task. There are many ways to make a book, but participants will have to wait until Tuesday to find out which one Sonia Farmer will demonstrate and guide us through. Equality Bahamas highly recommends that those interested in making a book also participate in the printmaking day on Saturday. The prints made on that day may be used for the book covers. In this session, we will keep the rage theme going and everyone will leave with a rage book of their own. Register: tiny.cc/ragebook

Published in The Tribune on December 4, 2024.

December 4, 2024/0 Comments/by Bianca Giulione

Activism, Gender-Based Violence, Sexual Violence

Channelling rage and anti-resilience

The Global 16 Days Campaign started on Monday, November 25, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (IDEVAW). The campaign opened at a time that the country is shocked and upset by the rape and murder of 12-year-old Adriel Moxey and the rape and death of 72-year-old Verencha Butler.

The Global 16 Days Campaign was started in 1991 by a group of women in activism who had been engaged in a training programme and saw the need to bring specific focus to gender-based violence against women and girls. The 16-day campaign includes key dates such as International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (November 29), International Women Human Rights Defenders Day (November 29), International Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3), and Human Rights Day (December 10.) In recent years, December 6 has been recognised as Femicide Awareness Day.

Femicide has been a theme in the Global 16 Days Campaign by Equality Bahamas for the past few years, both because it was a multi-year theme for the Global 16 Days Campaign itself and it is an overlooked, under-studied issues in The Bahamas. Femicide is the sex- or gender-based killing of a woman or girl, and it can be direct or indirect. Direct femicide is a killing that results from overt physical violence, and indirect femicide results from discriminatory, oppressive, or negligent action or inaction.

The rape and killing of both Adriel Moxey and Verencha Butler, which took place just days before the start of the Global 16 Days Campaign, are emblematic of the issue of gender-based violence against women and girls which includes sexual violence and at its most extreme, results in femicide.

Adriel Moxey, by all accounts, was a spirited girl who enjoyed being around people and kept herself busy with extracurricular activities. She usually made her way home after her on campus activities and church events. It was expected that she would continue to do so, and that it would be safe for to continue living as she did. On the day she was raped and murdered, she went to school. She attempted to walk home from school. She was interrupted by violence. She, like all survivors and victims of rape and femicide, does not have any blame for what for what was done to her. She was child, and she was trying to find joy and connection, and she was targeted, overpowered, and violated in the ways women and girls are regularly reminded to fear.

Verencha Butler was a mother and grandmother. She spent time with her family, in celebration of a birthday, before returning to her home where she had the reasonable expectation of safety. She likely had a daily and nightly routine. Perhaps she watched the news in the evening. Maybe she enjoyed a cup of tea before going to bed. She may have always had her tea in a particular mug. That night, we can easily imagine that she turned over the memories of the birthday celebration in her mind, smiling at the wonderful engagement she had with her family. Her night was interrupted. She, like all survivors and victims of rape and femicide, does not have any blame for what was done to her. She was an elderly woman, and she was going about life as she usually did, and she was targeted, overpowered, and violence in the ways women and girls and regularly reminded to fear.

Both of these cases are horrific. They fill some of us with terror and other with disgust or confusion. We wonder how anyone could violate a 12-year-old or a 72-year-old in these ways. We have question after question about the circumstances that led to these criminal acts, what went wrong along the way, and what we need to do now. It has only been a few days, and already the temperature is returning to the usual as attention shifts. So limited is the national capacity for outrage and to apply pressure that even the most horrific cases fall away from the headlines, social media discourse, and dinner table discussion.

This year, Equality Bahamas set Rage and (anti-)Resilience as its theme for the Global 16 Days Campaign. The events are creating space for women to feel, acknowledge, and channel our rage into meaningful action for the political and social transformation we need in order to end gender-based violence. The sessions are also challenging the idea that women and girls must be resilient as individuals, being strong, pulling ourselves up by the bootstraps, and bouncing back from adversity, pretending it never happened. Instead, resilience is being framed as system and a network that allows people to recognise our interdependence and build active communities that are spaces and resources for care. The campaign is building on the idea put forward by Soraya Chemaly in her book The Resilience Myth: New Thinking on Grit, Strength, and Growth After Trauma.

We see the harm causes by narrative about a resilience that requires individual strength in the response to the rape and murder of Adriel Moxey. People have been quick to blame her mother, who is also a victim of these crimes, for what happened to her daughter. She should have secured private transportation for her child, she should have looked for her earlier, she should not have fallen asleep, she should have walked to the police station… There is no end to the list of actions she should have taken. Not only is there no blame assigned to the father, whether or not he was present in Adriel’s life, but this shifted attention from the perpetrator. It also makes the assumption that we are all responsible for ourselves and our dependents to the exclusion of everyone else. It suggests that there is no role for community or government to play. It ignores that other factors involved in Adriel’s case, from the lack of electricity in the area of her home and lack of safe public transportation for all students to the realities and perceptions of the police (as demonstrated by more than one person who did not go directly to the police when there were signs of a crisis).

What is resilience is not a one person job that everyone has to do for themselves? What if the village actually functioned like a cohesive unit? What if the Department of Social Services did its job, on every case, every single time? What if the police were trusted, responsive, and effective? What if no child had to walk home alone, whether at the end of the regular school day or after extracurricular activities? What if electricity was provided wherever there are houses? What if mental health were taken seriously and people could access services without stigma and regardless of ability to pay? What if there were sufficient housing for people in crisis?

The failures are systemic. No individual should have the burden of overcoming all of the systemic issues that are not addressed by the government or other power-wielding entities, nor carry the blame when the consequences of the systemic issues result in tragedy. You see the horrible situations. You feel grief when people are raped, physically assaulted, and murdered. You see the pain of their loved ones. You can barely imagine the fear of the people it could have been, and the people it could be next. You know it is tragic that there will be a next time. Still, you are in the safety of your home, your family, your safety net, your bank account, and you tell yourself that you are better than those other people and what happens to them would not happen to you because you are resilient. Because you or your family has done certain kinds of work to protect you. And to further convince yourself of your invulnerability, you blame someone. You make decisions about why events unfolded as they did and what individual actions would have prevented them. You get to be superior and separate from this place where terrible things happen. It is easy to blame.

What if you allow yourself to be enraged? What if your disgust is for perpetrators and the systems that enable them to enact violence? What if your demands of the government extended beyond punishment?

There is very little prevention work taking place in The Bahamas. Punishment is not prevention. Punishment happens after the crime is committed. How many cases of gender-based violence and femicide do there need to be before this administration—any administration—faces the facts?

Gender-based violence is a specific type of violence that disproportionately impacts women and girls. Violence against women and girls is common, and it is rooted in patriarchal attitude, gender stereotypes, and harmful gender ideology that convince people that women are inferior to men. Gender-based violence can result in femicide. The killing of a woman or girl because of her sex or gender is femicide. This is not the same as any other kind of murder or homicide. It is gender-based killing. Cases of femicide must be named and counted. There is no other way to determine the prevalence of the sex- and gender-based killing of women and girls, and there is no other way to determine the risk factors or indicators. Risk factors and indicators are needed in order to development preventative measures and appropriate, effective intervention. There is no ending gender-based violence or femicide without the use of these specific terms, the collection and analysis of data, and the development, planning, and implementation of action plans which must include legal reform and national programming. The Gender-Based Violence bill is, as stated by the CEDAW Committee and recommended by United Nations Member States in the Universal Periodic Review, a requirement for this work. There is no existing law that address gender-based violence specifically and comprehensively, and until there is, we know that we cannot take the Government of The Bahamas seriously and that it is leaving to us, as individuals or as communities—whichever we choose—to be resilient on our own.

Published in The Tribune on November 27, 2024.

November 28, 2024/0 Comments/by Bianca Giulione

Activism, Gender-Based Violence

Domestic abuse – time for change

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and there has been little attention to it in The Bahamas. The Department of Gender and Family Affairs has been rather silent for months and months, seemingly doing very little and certainly not engaging nongovernmental organisations in a meaningful way. This month, one might have expected the Department, if not the Ministry of Social Services, to make a concerted effort to engage the public in conversations about domestic violence, the laws, policies, and services available to support survivors, and updates on the support that is not yet available.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month has been observed annualy since the first Day of Unity was held in October 1981. During this period, organisations share important information including the signs of domestic violence, survivor stories, resources for survivors, and law and policy needs. This year, the theme is “Heal, Hold & Center,” focusing on healing from experiences of violence, holding space for survivors, and centering the people who are most marginalised, particularly in efforts to address domestic violence. Search #HealHoldCenter to explore the posts that are being made this month, drawing attention to the pervasive issue that is domestic violence and calling for action to prevent it, intervene in it, and ensure that there is survivor-centered justice.

Awareness months can feel a bit one note and ineffective when they are not used by governments and nongovernmental organisations to create change. People are generally aware of domestic violence. It is not a secret. It is generally not a confusing term. The term is used often, and it appears in news media with far too much frequency. There are many reports of domestic violence that make it to newspapers and the airwaves, particularly in cases that go to court which, we know, is a small proportion cases. Still, domestic violence is often thought of as physical abuse and as a one-time event rather than a wider range of violent behaviors that are repeated and escalate. The first instances of domestic violence are often missed or, more accurately, dismissed as small, isolated events that will not happen again and will not lead to more severe forms of violence.

Domestic violence includes verbal abuse. Do you remember consistently being called names by your parents and guardians? How did you feel? How did it affect the way you saw yourself, the way you engaged with family members, and the way you moved in the outside world? Have you ever been in a relationship with someone who talked down to you, told you that you were worthless, and did everything they could to make you believe that no one would ever love you? These are words, and words do hurt. They do not only sting in the moment, but they stay with us for a long time, and it is difficult to break free of old beliefs that come from what people told us about ourselves.

Domestic violence can be perpetrated by and against any person in a household. It is not limited to people who are or have been in intimate relationships. A parent can be abusive to a child. A person can be abusive to their sibling, parent, or grandparent. A family can be abusive to live-in domestic workers.

Do you cling to the idea that these children “just need a cut hip”? Do you completely fail to communicate with your children, choosing to use shoes, belts, and other objects to “correct them”? Does a conversation about what is right, what is wrong, and consequences for actions seem like too much for you, and you’d rather reach for the nearest object or curse your children “into the ground”? Is your first instinct, when your children make mistakes or engage in bad behavior to cause them physical harm? If so, not only are you a perpetrator of domestic violence, but you have likely experienced it yourself and continue to use that negative, harmful experience to excuse your failure to see your children as human beings worthy of conversations rooted in love instead of anger, even when you need to discipline them. Recognise that this is a problem. This is not normal. This is not a way to raise healthy children who are able to communicate clearly, advocate for themselves, resolve conflict in nonviolent ways, and build healthy relationships and families.

It is difficult to leave behind practices that we have known our entire lives, especially when we think they give us power. Ruling by fear is much easier than engaging with love. It takes practice. For many, it requires professional help. Be encouraged to contact a mental health professional or call the Bahamas Crisis Centre to talk about this issue and how you can be a better parent. It will go a long way in helping your children to understand abuse, identify the signs quickly, and without conflating it with love, and have loving, respectful intimate partner relationships.

A common misconception about domestic violence is that it stay at home. Domestic violence, however, follows people to work. Perpetrators of domestic violence often closely monitor the people they abuse, show up announcements, and try to trap them. When survivors leave violence partners, they are at high risk. In most cases, they need to work and cannot afford to take time off. This is a vulnerability as the perpetrator knows where to find them. Co-workers may not be aware of the situation, and often offer information to the perpetrator because they know them to be the survivor’s partner. They may volunteer information about days off and times in and out of office, and may even give access to their workspace. Living in a small place, working in small businesses and small department, people become familiar with coworkers and get to know a bit about their personal lives. Because everyone is not always thinking about domestic violence, and because we spend so much time at work at coworkers become (pseudo-)friends, it easy for the lines to blur and inappropriate information sharing can take place.

In November 2022, The Bahamas ratified the International Labor Organization’s Convention 190, also known as C190, on Violence and Harassment in the World of Work. It has yet to be implemented. All businesses in The Bahamas need to read C190 as well as the accompanying Recommendation 206 to gain an understanding of their obligations to all workers. Domestic violence follows people to work, and the workplace should not make it easy for perpetrators to gain access or to further their abuse.

Domestic violence prevention and response is largely left to non-governmental organisations and individuals, many being untrained and unequipped. The private sector, too, must get involved. Prevention requires an understanding of the risk factors, not only for experiencing domestic violence, but being a perpetrator. It is not solely about teaching women and girls to see the early signs of domestic violence, but teaching men and boys to express their emotions in healthy, non-violent ways. It requires attention to the dynamics of Bahamian households and the violent practices that exist and have been normalised for generations. It requires training of all staff in the workplace. It requires awareness of the general public that comes with an impetus to take action to end domestic violence. Knowledge is power, and that power must be shared and leveraged to change laws, policies, environments, and behaviour. We have to change as a people.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. The Resilience Myth by Soraya Chemaly. Feminist Book Club, hosted by Equality Bahamas and Poinciana Paper Press, is reading The Resilience Myth over the next few weeks and meeting to discuss it on Wednesday, November 20 at 6pm. In addition, Equality Bahamas will facilitate a conversation with the author, Soraya Chemaly, on Monday, November 25—International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. This is the opening event of the Global 16 Days Campaign event series by Equality Bahamas which, this year, is focusing on rage as a powerful force that can be used for good and (anti-)resilience, pushing back against the idea that we must all, individually, be strong and able to bounce back from disaster, violence, and trauma of various kinds. The Resilience Myth sets a great foundation for the conversations we will have during the Campaign, and Soraya Chemaly will challenge our thinking about character traits we deem positive and worthy of celebration while requiring them of everyone even, and especially, in the worst situations. The book is available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook formats. Join book club at tiny.cc/fbc2024 and join the Equality Bahamas mailing list at equality-bahamas.ck.page to be the first to know about the Global 16 Days Events.

2. Donate an e-SIM to a Palestinian. To do this, download the Simly app at smily.io. Search for “Palestine”, select an option, and make the purchase. Screenshot the QR code that appears on your screen. Email that QR code to gazaesims@gmail.com. The 5GB option is a good one. More e-sims are urgently needs for people in the north of Gaza. If you are not able to complete this process, you can make a donation to Crips for eSIMs for Gaza—an initiative led by people with disabilities—at chuffed.org/project/crips-for-esims-for-gaza. For more information on eSIMs, go to connecting-humanity.org/donate.

Published in The Tribune on October 23, 2024.

October 26, 2024/0 Comments/by Bianca Giulione

Activism

Will we do nothing as Palestinians massacred?

MONDAY was day 374 of the genocide of Palestine and Palestinians by Israel which continues to bomb schools and hospitals. Israel is targeting displacement camps where Palestinians who have been driven out of their homes set up makeshift structures to shelter themselves and their families. Palestinian people are being forced out of the north. There is nowhere for them to go. They are harassed, terrorised, violated in many ways, displaced over and over again, from one “safe zone” to the next, only to be murdered. In just 24 hours, Israel murdered 62 Palestinians and caused injury to 220 Palestinians in Gaza.

ON Monday, Israel murdered four people in an airstrike on a tent at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and injured scores of people who suffered severe burns. The hospital had already been facing significant challenges in treating people injured in the airstrike on a shelter at a school which killed 20 people.

Al Jazeera reported that, “The Israeli military said it targeted fighters hiding out among civilians but did not provide evidence for their presence. In recent months, it has repeatedly struck crowded shelters and tent camps, alleging that Hamas was using them as staging grounds for attacks.” Israel continues to lie.

Israeli soldiers continue to record and livestream their sickening, murderous acts. They laugh with each other and into the camera as they destroy the homes of Palestinians, search through their belongings, and taunt viewers. There are many videos of soldiers toying with lingerie and children’s clothing.

It is clear that Israel is determined to strip Palestinians of their humanity. They want to view them — and have the rest of the world view them — as less than human. This live-streamed genocide against the Palestinian people is a joke to the soldiers. The soldiers are synonymous with Israel as an occupying force and a settler colonial project. Israel has been making life untenable. It is a machine of death.

The UN World Food Programme—world’s largest humanitarian organisation saving lives in emergencies and use food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity — announced last week that aid has not entered the north since October 1. WFP country director for Palestine Antoine Renard said the programme has been there “from the onset” and is committed to providing food, but it is not without access. He said: “The north is basically cut off and we’re not able to operate there.”

While there are people writing and speaking about the genocide against Palestinian people every day, it is not enough. People are urging the rest of the world to rise up and stand in solidarity with Palestinian people, and it is not enough. The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement provides information and guidelines for everyone to prevent support of the death machine that is Israel. It clearly lists companies that everyone needs to avoid supporting, and this movement is built on the success of a similar campaign during the struggle to end apartheid in South Africa. This is a relatively easy way for individuals to take action and to remind ourselves of the work that must still be done, particularly when we have to take the long route because we are on the side of justice.

For travellers, this means using other tools to look for flights, avoiding Expedia and finding accommodations through platforms other than AirBnB and booking.com because they are pressure targets of the campaign. For fast food fans, it means cutting out major chains, including several that are available in The Bahamas, and yes, it does make a difference when these businesses are based here as they have to pay for the use of the franchise brand and other material. For people who order goods online, it means avoiding Amazon — which is advisable for many reasons — and finding other sellers, some of which are likely more environmentally sustainable and less exploitative of workers.

Many Bahamians are in the US, attentive to the presidential election campaign. They need to watch what is happening in Palestine and recognize the significant role the US government is playing. Before backing any presidential candidate, it is important to assess their position on the genocide against Palestinians. Do they call it genocide? Do they avoid questions about it? Do they support the funding of the genocide? Do they send arms to Israel? Do they campaign on not being the other person? Do they use fear tactics and position themselves as the “lesser of the evils” to get votes? What does it mean to support a person, a ticket, or a party that supports genocide?

The US has sabotaged ceasefire negotiations and provided Israel with immunity at the UN Security Council.

Noura Erakat noted: “In the first six days of Israel’s campaign, the Biden administration sent it 6,000 bombs. This week, it sent 50,000 tons of weapons — causing the equivalent of over 3 atomic bombs dropped on a besieged population denied safe quarter and any means necessary for survival.”

It is important to listen to Palestinian people. Those in Palestine are sharing their experiences. They are recording their daily lives. They are speaking to us in the aftermath of unspeakable horror. They speak of their hopes as much as they speak of their fears. They call on world leaders and ordinary people everywhere to take action in ways they cannot. They even pray and send well wishes to other people in the face of disaster. Yes, displaced people in Palestine took the time to send positive messages to people in the US as Hurricane Milton approached. We need to listen to them. To witness their struggle. To spend our money with great care and consideration. To support the fundraisers that will help them to access food and water. To know what they are experiencing and that it is not normal, not necessary, not humane, and not without complicity of many.

In an Instagram video by Salih Aljafarawi, a Palestinian said: “I saw people burning in front of me[…] I swear by Allah, no one was able to do anything!” He survived the airstrike on the hospital on Monday, but his distress was visible. He watched as people died after being awakened from their sleep. “The Zionist occupation is committing massacres that we have never seen, humanity has never seen!”

Journalist Bisan Owda posted a video hours after the airstrike on the makeshift shelter at the hospital. She was visible shocked and deeply shaken by the footage of people burning alive. “Did you watch it? The video. It was so slow, it was so painful. It was so unnecessary. Even if they wanted to kill us all, even if it’s a genocide, even if they are criminals, they could have done this in different ways. They wanted to burn us alive, and they did this. They are playing. It was unnecessary, but they are trying new ways to kill. It was unnecessary[…]”

How many people, she must wonder, can watch that video and feel nothing? Say nothing? Do nothing?

Journalist Yosra Aklouk asked: “Is our flesh really this cheap for you? Is there anything more harsh than the scene of our flesh melting and dissolving?” These questions are searing. Many Palestinians must wonder if the rest of the world is aware of its humanity.

“We are human beings. We are human beings just like you. Our flesh, I swear to God, is the same as yours,” Yosra Aklouk said. “We are simply waiting and thinking about the mechanism through which we will die. Which mechanism will be used to kill us.”

This is the daily reality for people in Palestine. They wonder how we see them. They wonder how it is possible that no one and nothing has stopped this genocide, more than 370 days in. They wonder when death will come to them, and whether it will be day or not. Whether they will be awake or sleeping. Whether it will be gunshots, bombs, starvation, or infection.

Shaaban Ahmad, 20 years of age, was murdered in the Israeli attack on the tent he built to shelter his family at Al-Aqsa Hospital. People, unable to save him, watched, helpless and horrified, as he burned alive. He had started studying software engineering in September 2023. He was pulled from the rubble after the bombing of a mosque where he was sleeping on October 6. He started a fundraiser to get his family to Egypt. On the fundraiser page, he wrote, “I used to have big dreams, but the war has ruined them. It’s taken a toll on me, making my physically and mentally sick. I suffer from depression and hair loss because of the constant trauma we face.”

There are many people like Shaaban who are still alive. Who are trying to find a way out. Who are struggling to stay alive. By now, it is clear that no giant, flying vessel will touch down to collect the Palestinian people, rid Palestine of the occupiers, and give the land back to Palestinians. The resolution will neither be quick nor simple, as we have seen. Even international courts have not declared Palestine and Palestinians free. There has been colossal suffering and loss. There is more that we can do. Shaking our heads is useless. We have to be activated. We have to engage the political discourse on this issue. We have to use our voices as well as our dollars. Every little bit really does count. To find a way to put your money to work for the people of Palestine, go to linker.ee/fundsforgaza which has a rotating list of fundraising campaigns. Do something to sustain Palestinians while we work toward a Free Palestine.

Because I know it will be said, we do have problems here. There are problems everywhere. Know that our problems, our struggles, are connected, as are the solutions. If you have difficult understanding this concept, visit tiny.cc/caribbeanforpalestine to see the connecting of the dots by Caribbean feminists in a statement written and circulated in May 2024.

Published in The Tribune on October 16, 2024.

October 17, 2024/0 Comments/by Bianca Giulione

Activism, Bahamas, Politics

The Network of Caribbean Feminists Statement on Palestine

The Network of Caribbean Feminists released its statement–calling on CARICOM to support the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel) case at the International Court of Justice for measures to be taken against genocidal actions by Israel–on the ongoing genocide in Palestine on Monday, May 7. This post has excerpts from the statement.

“We affirm the humanity and dignity of the Palestinian people and we rebuke the violence enacted against them, including bombardment, starvation, sexual violence, ethnic cleansing, and the intentional destruction of educational, cultural, healthcare, political, and religious institutions. More than 35,000 Palestinian people have been killed since October 7, 2023. Most of them are women and children. More than 80,000 Palestinian people have been injured. Over 8,000 Palestinian people are missing. Almost 2 million Palestinians are currently displaced in Gaza, and 1.1 million are facing catastrophic food insecurity.”

“We reiterate the Human Rights Council resolution on the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination which “calls upon all States to ensure their obligations of non-recognition, non-aid or assistance with regard to the serious breaches of peremptory norms of international law by Israel.” We grieve the Nakba of 1948 and support Palestinians who reject the two-state solution. There can be no peace without justice.”

See and share the full statement at tiny.cc/caribbeanforpalestine

May 15, 2024/0 Comments/by Bianca Giulione