It was indeed shocking to read reports of women being chopped, one losing a limb in the process, in Sunday’s issue of the Guyana Chronicle.
One wonders what could bring supposedly human beings, who are blessed with intelligence and the power of reasoning, to such a beastly state of mind, hacking away at women with cutlasses and pieces of wood studded with nails.
In recent years, there has been an upsurge of violence against women and indications are that this will get worse and worse.
Such a trend threatens the very fabric of the family unit, the most fundamental societal structure, and by extension, the entire nation.
This frightening trend has to be arrested swiftly as it only leads to untold suffering and trauma which is detrimental to the development and well-being of the nation.
Experts tell us that resorting to violence is due to several factors, including stress, family upbringing, education, genetics and psychological/emotional disorders, along with the influence of violent movies.
Whatever is the underlying factor behind such beastly and inhuman acts, perpetrators of violence against women must be condemned by all and must attract zero tolerance.
The children are the ones most affected. Sons and daughters growing up in a home where the father physically abuses the wife tend to believe that violence is the only way to resolve differences, and so the vicious cycle of domestic violence goes on, the problem multiplies and the future spells disaster.
The bull must be taken by the horns in this matter. No resources or energy should be spared to expeditiously solve this problem.
We would think that studies have already been carried out on the causes of domestic violence so perhaps now is the time to come up with solutions on curbing this destroyer of the family unit.
All the family-life experts in the multiplicity of NGOs in our midst that deal with family matters need to get together and find an answer. And this must be done now.
One would think that the loose family structure which now seems to be the norm has led to this increasing violence in the family.
There are too many extra-marital relationships. This leads to too many couples not being as committed to each other as they should be, not as closely bound as they ought to be when tied together by marriage vows.
The result is that when problems arise, men in such relationships believe they could just walk away, or vent their frustrations by becoming violent.
And speaking of frustrations, many face us on almost a daily basis, and this is compounded by many of us not knowing how to handle them.
Anger management is a topic that we need to teach, to drum into the minds of those who are quick to fly off the handle.
Stress management has become an important subject in the curriculum of living.
The old adage of counting ten before you act is simplistic really, though it does have some merit.
We know of husbands who go for a walk when they come into conflict with their wives. They cool off on the road and then come back home, better able to deal with the problem.
Of course it is much better to take a walk than pick up a cutlass.