Sharon Clarke-Rowley, the wife of Prime Minster Dr Keith Rowley, is calling for an end to violence against women in this country.
Mrs Clarke-Rowley was speaking at an International Women’s Day event hosted by the Trinidad and Tobago Sister Society (TTSS) at the Brix Hotel, Cascade, on Friday.
“Some of our men also suffer abuse at the hands of women and other men, but abuse of women far outweighs that of men,” she said.
She pointed to statistics that showed one in three women in unions has suffered abuse at the hands of men who believe in male dominance and gender inequality.
“What starts as a slap or shove with such men could escalate into a pattern of frequent brutal beating and can even lead to death. Today it is referred to as toxic masculinity, I call that a sugar-coated term for male brutality,” she said.
Mrs Clarke-Rowley said that violence was one of the most systematic and widespread violations of human rights which is sobering and frightening.
She called on members of society to play their part in being the voice for the voiceless as she said women and girls much be allowed to realise their full potential in a violence-free society.
“If gender-based violence is to be eliminated there must be a broad partnership among civil society, the Government and state institutions, our health and social services, our justice system, our police and our education and humanitarian services must work together,” she said.
She also said that the Gender and Child Affairs Ministry was doing its part to eliminate gender-based violence
TTSS is the local arm of the Global Women’s Leadership Network, women in the credit union Industry, whose objectives are to get credit union women together to discuss credit union issues, exchange ideas, network and share the lessons learned with network members worldwide.
