CARICOM Secretary-General Calls for Firm Stand Against Gender-Based Violence

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary-General Dr. Carla Barnett has encouraged Caribbean to take a firm stand against gender-based violence.

She did so in a message marking the 16 Days Of Activism Campaign Against Gender-Based Violence, 25 November – 10 December 2022.

She is encouraging the people of the Caribbean Community, including Montserrat, to take decisive action to end gender-based violence.

The CARICOM Secretary General asserts that this is a vital human rights imperative that needs the region’s collective and concerted action.

According to Dr Barnett, gender-based violence remains a public health crisis in Montserrat and the rest of the Caribbean.

She notes that the World Health Organization (WHO) declares that globally, one in three women has experienced physical and/or sexual violence at some point in her lifetime, usually from an intimate partner.

And regarding the Caribbean, Dr Barnett recalled that prevalence surveys conducted between 2017-2019 in five Member States with a sample of women and girls 15-64 years, indicated incidence rates as high as one in two women.

Dr Barnett observed that rates of gender-based violence increased dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, and systemic inequalities have been exacerbated, with women disproportionately affected.

She concludes that regional advocacy must therefore be resolute and sustained.