By Erica James-King, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
WOMEN'S RIGHTS advocates in western Jamaica are expressing differing views over whether or not the lobby for women's right could be affected by the absence of female representatives.
While Dr. Glenda Simms, the Director of the Bureau of Women's Affairs, is worried that the rights of women will not be adequately addressed by the male parliamentarians. However, Joyce Hewett, the co-ordinator of Public Education/Legal Reform with Woman Inc., thinks the quality of representation and not the gender is the important issue.
In an interview with The Gleaner this week, Dr. Simms, said that the more negligible the number of women in Parliament, the more the odds are stacked against efforts to implement policies and programmes to satisfy the specific needs of women.
"Men cannot continue speaking for us...with all the best intentions in the world, men are not women, they (men) do not understand our issues as intimately as we do," said Dr. Simms. "Just as how we did not want the white people to broker on behalf of black people and to speak for us, we women do not want our voices appropriated nor our concerns fed back to us through other people's eyes."
However, Ms. Hewett, who represents the non-government organisation, Women Incorporated, clearly has no problem being represented by male parliamentarians. According to her, the absence of women among the political representative from the west should be seen as a challenge rather than a disadvantage.
"Both men and women can give effective representation to the need for more legislation, support services, employment opportunities and public awareness programmes on the rights of members of the female gender," said Ms. Hewett.
However, despite her stance on the issue of men representing the interest of women, Ms. Hewett was quick to point out that only increased advocacy by women in the west and at the national level will force men to grasp the challenge of giving women's interests potent representation.
"We (women advocates) are all out there willing and ready to educate the men to the extent they are willing to listen," said Ms. Hewett. "Where they will not listen, we (women) must make our voices heard. It is our responsibility to let the politicians know what we want with regard to the laws which will bring about a level of justice for the women."
Both the ruling People's National Party (PNP) and the opposition Jamaica Labour Party seem to concur with the views expressed by Ms. Hewett. Both parties were united in the view that proper representation and not gender is what is needed to promote the agenda of the women.
The PNP's General Secretary Maxine Henry-Wilson said the west needs "to more actively advocate their own cause, including issues relating to women" while the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Deputy Leader, Ed Bartlett promised that his party will give quality representation for both women and men.
In outlining his party's plan to empower women, despite not fielding a female candidate for the region in the recent General Elections, Mr. Bartlett said the party would be pushing for more investments in job opportunities in the west, which should be of much benefit to the women in their quest for greater independence. While articulating differing views on the matter of representation, both the Bureau of Women's Affairs and Woman Incorporated were united in the call that government should speed up the implementing certain programmes and legislation for women.
