ISSUES Guyana Volume 1 . Published by the Institute of Gender Studies, The University of Guyana
Pauline E. Bullen, PhD – Editor
From the Editorial Note
“I grew up in a rape culture”. It was this bold statement about one person’s painful assessment of his reality at a meeting in Trinidad, that prompted the collaborations that produced, ISSUES GUYANA, where we say, “Come hear dis”, hear our stories, see the pain expressed in our art and understand how wounded our lives are as a result of sexual harassment, rape, incest and murder. The contributors to ISSUES all have stories that we wish we did not have to tell, but we know that the world won’t get any better if we just let things be! Complacency and silence will NOT keep any of us safe. So, this is more than simply “Storytelling”, it is a call to action – a call for an ousting of complacency and comfort, replacing it with the resolve and motivation to act – to do something.
This publication, was first born in Zimbabwe, Southern Africa. An educated man raped his sister’s daughter. The culture said that the niece was a ‘little wife’, not in sexual terms. That mother appealed to a small group of women, and I was one of them, to produce a magazine on rape, and “Issues – Pane Nyaya” (Issues: We have stories to tell) was born.
With Issues Guyana, we want people in the Caribbean and internationally, to read, hear and understand that much of the fear, anger and violence crosses continents and is present everywhere in our global village. We take the stance that culture is not static and therefore requires that we change, shift perspectives, rethink and redefine what we see and label as “tradition” and/or “acceptable”. Jamaican born Sociologist, Cultural Theorist and Political activist, Stuart Hall wrote extensively about culture as something that is NOT static but ever changing – fluid and dynamic. He wrote that culture is produced with each generation, that we reproduce our own identities and that instead of thinking of culture as “a return to roots” instead we should think of culture as “routes — R-O-U-T-E-S — the various routes by which people travel (Paul, A., 2005)”. Culture travels, culture moves, culture develops, culture changes, cultures migrates and as socialized human beings we are capable of critically thinking and charting new routes to greater understanding, equity and social justice….”
Contents
P. E. Bullen Issues Guyana: Come Hear Dis
Audre Lorde The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action
Alim Hosein Guyanese Men Speaking out Against Domestic/Intimate Partner Violence
Lenox Shuman A culture of violence, or a product of society
Neil Marks ‘Is why the man beat you this time’
Peter Persaud Violence in society and what I have witnessed and learnt
Dr Annamore Jamu ‘If you don’t report a rape… your body will!’
Nikki Giovanni Poetry
Vidyaratha Kissoon ‘And he does beat woman… I thought you knew …’
This is Us! 2016-2017 Statistics on rape and 7 forms of violence
Michael E. Scott Hands of Violence
Pauline E. Bullen Michael Griffith Interview: “Art allows me to say things that have to be said”
PAHO statistics and information
Risk Factors for VAWG
Sustainable Development Goal #5
Raymond Talovera I Am From
Nkofi Hodge “… Yes, I did grow up in a rape culture”
Renata Burnette – Broken System (an excerpt)
Michael Khan The Demise of Ms. Harshum
Derwayne Wills Growing up in a Rape Culture and Why I Get Panic Attacks
What is Rape?
Michael McGarrell Domestic Violence must be dealt with by a team
Pauline E. Bullen Final Words
Helpline Numbers
The Editor and Contributors
Note: Consent was sought and approval given for publication by all contributors. There are no competing interests in the publication of this magazine.