MUCH has been said about the speech of the Hon. Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand at the U.S. Ambassador’s farewell reception on July 2, 2014.
Regardless of the opinion taken on the Minister’s comments and the related issues, please permit the Women’s Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security to urge that persons and organisations commenting on the issue refrain from the derogatory practice of name calling.
Specifically, the Bureau is appalled at the reference by an Alliance For Change (AFC) leader to the Minister as ‘Satira Gal’. The connotation of this phrase is disrespectful to all women, as it implies if a woman is vocal about her opinion or that of her interests, she is ill-mannered.
Had the message been read by a male representative of the Government, would the AFC’s choice of words be similar? It would seem that the AFC’s sentiments about the Minister is premised on the fact that she is a woman and it certainly reflects the need for much more work to be done in Guyana to erode the barriers of gender inequality. It is hoped that the AFC would see the logic in retracting this insulting reference to the Minister.
WOMEN’S AFFAIRS BUREAU
Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security