12.JAN.07

EDITOR: My cup was already full after Stacey Wilson’s beheading, I felt quite unable to imagine a scene happening in full day light at peak time in Tokyo and without any protection or reaction to help Stacey, because it happened so fast or what else, cowardice…? The whole thing is sickening and brought heavy vibes into the Christmas season…. Not to mention the image projected overseas, I heard, via photographs of Stacey’s body shared on the Internet…!

Instead of calming down, it seems that crimes against women are flourishing again early in January 2007, bringing violence against women in St. Vincent to a crisis level. Burning the ex-girlfriend’s house in Calder and attacking her with a cutlass because she stopped the relationship? What kind of craziness is that? And it is not the first time it has happened.{{more}}

A man who cannot take NO for an answer needs to have a GOOD LOOK at himself as a male. Is physical force what makes a man? What about respect, maturity, consideration for a woman? Losses and separations in relationships happen and life continues. If not expressed in a different way, negative emotions will then continue to be acted out violently, first verbally, then physically and it is not a good thing for anybody concerned. There can be other non-violent solutions to conflict. Discussion Groups for males only are needed. People need to learn to talk to each other and control their emotions.

Curiously on last week’s front page in another newspaper, beauty queens and harassed/attacked women shared the front page: does it mean that either a woman is a sex symbol or she is a doormat or a thing? When one young woman loses her dignity and self-respect, when she is disrespected, then all of us females and society suffer too.

YES, we need prompt action from police and first of all a change of attitude toward females, family violence is not a joke. We need more female police officers who will show a different attitude to women and will be proactive on complaints of verbal threats, death threats and harassment coming from males, boyfriends and partners; who does it benefit when coming too late to check dead bodies?.

Court sentences are to be enforced much more strictly and sternly because this is serious business.

How many more females will lose their lives in 2007 in St.Vincent and the Grenadines at the hands of jealous, angry ex-boyfriends? This is too high a human cost to pay ; when you look at it more closely, it does not need to happen at all, though it needs preventive action.

Think twice. Respect for human life is the issue here. Woman is the bearer and the nurturer of life and therefore is a powerful human being . Treat her right!

Cécile Comblen