Professional women to march against violence
(CNS): The Business and Professional Women’s Club of Grand Cayman will be holding the 13th annual Silent Witness March to draw attention to the issue of domestic violence that still prevails in the local community, next week. Partnering with the Family Resource Centre, this year also marks the first time that victims of bullying are recognized as well an initiative from the Family Resource Centre. BPW Grand Cayman President, Andrea Williams said the goal was to increase “awareness and motivate the community to work together to assist victims and ultimately eradicate domestic violence and bullying in the Cayman Islands."
Everyone is invited and participants are encouraged to meet at the Government Administration Building on Friday 18 October at 5:30. The route will be directed down Elgin Avenue, to Edwards Street and finish at Celebration Park by the courthouse parking lot. A short ceremony will follow with guest speakers including the governor, Helen Kilpatrick, and the minster responsible for gender affairs as well as special guest, the premier, Alden McLaughlin.
"The Silent Witness March is a powerful reminder that domestic violence and bullying continue to exist in the Cayman Islands” Williams said. “Through the march, we come together as a community to recognize the victims of domestic violence and bullying.”
She also noted that this year marks the 5th anniversary of the murder of Estella Scott Roberts.
“While Estella was not a victim of domestic violence, she was a tireless advocate for victims of domestic violence as the first manager of the Cayman Islands Crisis Centre. We will remember and honour not only her, but women like Lisa Hlady who was murdered in 2001, and the many others who have suffered as a result of domestic violence in the Cayman Islands and around the world”.
Participants are encouraged to wear the colour purple –the colour of Domestic Violence Awareness Month (1 to 31 October).
Category: Local News
Please promise to stay on the sidewalks, use the crosswalks, and perhaps there will be no need to close all the downtown streets for hours as they have in the past.
Ha! We got WOMEN ABUSING CHILDREN ! It is until we march against women abusing and raising children the wrong way, we will always be marching against violence!
This march is about men abusing women… the children can wait.
I sometimes partake in some self-abuse. Am I part of the problem?
True. I agree with you 100% It is all connected. We like to point the finger at grown men and ex-cons, but if boys are not raised properly they will grow up being violent and breaking the law too. It is therefore the responsibility of parents; especially mothers to properly raise their young boys with good self-esteem, courage, compassion, and tolerance. Too often boys are not being raised with tender love. They need tender love too and not just the girls. Fathersas well need to play a role in their daughters and sons lives. The march against violence is all connected and people need to see that it is not just a woman thing, rather it is a family and societal issue.
I think the headline is bit deceiving. This is a march for the entire community to attend not just for Professional women. This is an annual event that the Business and Professional Women's Club does a fantastic job of organizing to call awareness to the problem.
I applaud BPW for their efforts and I hope that the turnout will be large on the 18th. This is a problem which effects us all; Men, Women, and Children. I encourage everyone to join in. Bring the family it would be a good chance and tiime to start a dialogue about abuse and bullying.
See you there.
I hope that more focus is placed on the many men that are also victims of domestic violence. Many men suffer in silence because our society sends the message that, as men, they should just accept the emotional, verbal, and physical abuse that they are exposed to on a regular basis. This type of thinking within our community needs to change and special emphasis should be placed on changing the way of community thinks about men as victims of domestic violence.
In first world nations this is a valid repsonse, but given the backward attitudes towards women in Cayman, it is more important to solely prioritize domestic abuse against women. I have been at movies recently where a man hits his wife and some of the crowd cheered in support.
This is the type of thinking that is holding back much needed progress as it relates to domestic violence. Violence against any person is unacceptable. It does not matter if that person is a woman or a man and it would be wrong to think that one is more deserving of attention than the other. Violence is violence and it must stop now!