100 women honoured for fight against domestic violence

It was a sea of red filled with emotions of appreciation, empathy and love at the National Cultural Centre (NCC) on Monday evening as the Caribbean American Domestic Violence Awareness (CADVA) Inc, in collaboration with the One Billion Rising Revolution, honoured 100 women who are survivors of domestic violence and abuse.

The event was held under the theme “Let the women speak, the revolution unveiled.”

Amid an audience of more than 300, the women were each given a token in the form of a butterfly which, CADVA explained, represented the women’s metamorphosis process, that is, the transition from the being a victim of domestic violence to one of a survivor.

According to the Director of CADVA and Regional Representative for One Billion Rising Revolution, Dianne Madray, the women who were honoured were not those who are accomplished or well known women but rather were “your everyday, normal women.”

The women who hail from all parts of the country and transcended all of the ethnic groups and ages were all smiles as they were honoured for their immense show of courage, strength and will power, to walk away from relationships and situations which encouraged violence and abuse.

It was a mixture of surprise and elation as their names were called one by one to accept the awards on stage.

 Women’s empowerment

Meanwhile, persons who would have also worked to promote women’s empowerment were also recognised and honoured at the ceremony.

The three-hour long event which began at approximately 20:00h was chaired by popular Radio personalities, Nuriyyih Gerard, Deborah Francis and Journalist Tracey Khan Drakes who all shared words of encouragement to the women present, urging them to “respect themselves, know their worth and to walk away from any form of violence” which can affect their wellbeing.

There were poems which were penned and performed by women who would have experienced violence and abuse and who utilised the art form as a way of escaping the traumatic experience.

The Visions All Female Band performed several musical pieces much to the delight of the audience while dancing entertainment was provided by the Creative Arts Dance Academy.

Former Miss Guyana Universe Ruqquyah Boyer, reigning Mr Talented Teen 2014 Delroy Walcott and Award winning author Robin Shaye also added their voices in the form of songs and speeches at the event.

Dramatic pieces, musical pieces done by Cleon Cadogan, the Christ-like Soldiers and numerous others were also on display.

Deceased social and women’s rights activist, Dr Faith Harding was also honoured by the groups who related to the audience that she worked tirelessly during her life to ensure that women’s struggles and challenges were minimised in the country and that domestic violence victims received the best support they could have gotten.

International Women’s Day is an occasion which recognises the struggles and successes of women across the globe.

The survivors and recovering victims were given the opportunity to share their own experiences with each other, to offer advice and to extend support to the vulnerable ones.