As Guyanese across the miles digest the statements made by Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall, calls continue to build for appropriate action to be taken against the public official, since “nice speeches” are not enough.
Over the weekend, A New and United Guyana (ANUG) added their voice to the protest against the Minister’s ‘dildo’ comment in Parliament, urging that he be removed from his office. Activists from the non-governmental organization, Help and Shelter also called for sanctions to be imposed on the Minister for his “sexually abusive behaviour”.
On Wednesday, Dharamlall, in response to heckling from Opposition MP, Natasha Singh-Lewis said, “Is a dildo you want, that is what you looking for”. The Minister later published an apology on his social media page explaining that he was merely responding to “incessant insults” by another Opposition MP, Sherod Duncan. According to the Minister, “On many occasions, the MPs on the government side have been ridiculed with some of the most uncouth and slanderous things about their bodies, their spouses, their children, their sexuality and even their dead relatives. Some of the chief culprits in the heckling crowd of APNU+AFC include MPs Sherod Duncan, Coretta Mc Donald and Natasha Singh-Lewis”.
He said too, “my heckle regarding a dildo was aimed at verbal excesses of MP Sherod Duncan… to those offended by my comment I am truly sorry. That is the truth”.
To this end, ANUG, a political party represented in the National Assembly has argued, “If he (Dharamlall) can show such colours under the spotlight of recorded Parliament debates what is he capable of as head of the Ministry, to which he has been entrusted, where the scrutiny is less rigorous? What treatment and conduct can the public servants who work under him expect from him?”
In this regard, the political group said, “A New and United Guyana calls on the President to remove the dishonourable Minister of local government and regional development from office. He has no place among the leadership of our country”.
The Party reasoned that the Minister’s outburst was spontaneous and not rehearsed and therefore reveals much of the nature of the official. In addition to this, the political group said that Dharamlall’s “vulgarity” is reminiscent of another PPP/C Minister’s misogynistic exchange with a female social activist some years ago, but only worse. “It is worse because the statement was made in the crumbling sanctity of our Parliament, where the nominees of the elected leaders congregate.
It is worse because there was no response, no immediate and unequivocal condemnation, from (Education Minister) Priya (Manickchand), from (Tourism and Commerce Minister) Oneidge (Waldrond), from (Human Services Minister) Vindhya (Persaud), from (Parliamentary Affairs Minister) Gail (Teixeira) or from the men seated next to them. It is worse because the Speaker, who imposes discipline, actually sanctioned an opposition member who protested against Dharamlall’s crassness,” ANUG contended.
Even more insulting, the political party said was that Dharamlall published a “tepid attempt to repair the damage” in a bid to excuse his “vile conduct” by claiming he was responding to similar vulgarity from the Opposition.
To this end, ANUG pointed out that Psychologists point to avoidance and misdirection as two devices used by abusers to escape the reality of their oppression. Therefore, “By misdirecting the conversation to APNU misdeeds, the PPP supporters can avoid confronting the ugly realities of the party they support,” the Party pointed out.
Meanwhile, activists from Help and Shelter said that Minister Dharamlall’s words amount to sexual harassment, which is legally defined as an unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature which makes a person feel offended or humiliated.
Further, the group of activists comprising Danuta Radzik, Josephine Whitehead, Linda Hustler and Pamela Nauth reasoned that there is no doubt that Dharamlall’s comments were intended to do just this to the woman it was directed to.
The female activists did not spare the House Speaker, Manzoor Nadir or the PPP/C MPs present, since the Minister was not reprimanded for his behaviour. To this end, they have stated, “It is not enough for nice speeches and pledges to be made: action consistent with words to protect against sexual and gender-based violence must be taken and applied to all. The Speaker must not allow a workplace culture or the normalization of sexual harassment to occur in the highest decision making forum of the people of Guyana without appropriate disciplinary action being taken. The Speaker and all parliamentarians must take personal and collective responsibility to ensure that discriminatory and sexist practices, language, behaviour are outlawed and severely penalized”.
They were keen to note that the road is paved for sexual harassment and other forms of gender based violence in Guyana, when double standards persist. In this regard, Help and Shelter recommended that sanctions be taken against Minister Dharmalall. They said, “We call on the Parliament of Guyana and the Speaker of Parliament to take a stand in relation to sexual harassment and all other forms of sexual abuse and violence in the House and for appropriate penalties to be imposed on Minister Dharamlall for his outrageous conduct”.
The NGO noted too that it was particularly concerned over the behaviour of a number of other Parliamentarians, which are not in compliance with the standards to be expected. Commissioner on the Women and Gender Equality Commission, Ms. Nicole Cole has also called for the Minister to be removed from public office. While she vehemently criticized the words of Dharamlall, she was keen to note that the same minister only recently called for the “defrocking” of two female judges, after their rulings were not aligned in his Party’s favour.
Cole has concluded that there is no amount of provocation that warrants the abuse from the Minister.To this end, ANUG pointed out that Psychologists point to avoidance and misdirection as two devices used by abusers to escape the reality of their oppression. Therefore, “By misdirecting the conversation to APNU misdeeds, the PPP supporters can avoid confronting the ugly realities of the party they support,” the Party pointed out.
Source: Kaieteur News