We now call any form of violence directed against a person because of his/her gender, GBV, Gender Based Violence, and that covers many evils, physical harm, sexual harm, psychological or economic harm or any suffering caused to women or men. We used to refer to it as domestic violence, and it is also suffered by men and/or children, who are living under the same roof.
GBV: I recently sat around a conference table at the HIAS headquarters to talk to staffers about their experiences, and about the upcoming Sixteen Days of Activism, the longest running campaign to end violence with a focus on women, the migrant women workers.
The HIAS team is working on a program that would raise awareness to the complex and deep-rooted phenomenon of GBV on the island. Activities will take place between November 25th to December 10th. Last year, the program was extensive and included other organizations such as FHMD, Fundacion pa Hende Muhe den Dificultad, but this year due to circumstances, the activities will be low key.
HIAS has been on the island for two years. It is a Jewish American nonprofit organization that provides humanitarian aid and assistance to refugees. It was originally established in 1881 to aid Jewish refugees, but has evolved since then to help wherever help is needed. HIAS has continuously been on the front lines, working with refugees in camps and cities from around the world, they are the only global Jewish organization whose mission is to assist refugees wherever they are, and they work very closely with the UNHCR, the United Nations High Commissioners for Refugees and other similar organizations, in collaboration with the government of Aruba, as stated on their webpage: Taking Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers.
The HIAS team reports that GBV is an imminent threat among undocumented Venezuelans, mostly women, who face immense hurdles trying to survive mid-pandemic.
Because of challenges in Venezuela, its people, on the run as economic migrants, are eligible for asylum, according to international treaties, but in Aruba, as we know, that issue is still unclear, no decisions have been made, and as a result, while asylum seeker are eligible to work as their claims are being sorted, this is not the case here, and they have no access to health care, just some emergency services, and education for their kids is often beyond reach.
Staffers at HIAS report they helped place more than 200 kids in local schools and kindergartens, these children at risk were helped thanks to the positive collaboration of SOAZA, SKOA, DPS, the Red Cross
and the UNHCR, etc. They all agree that collaboration is the key. Aruba has many not-for-profit-organizations working away in their own orbit, when these orbits intersect and yield collaboration everyone benefits.
As a goal, HIAS would like to complete a GBV audit on the island, providing answers to crucial questions such as how are migrant woman exposed to GBV. Because of lack of legal status and legal employment, they are vulnerable to sexual and financial exploitation, beside social isolation, and so far a formal audit has been impossible because the island’s official policy focuses on detention and deportation.
Another challenge is the lack of protocol. What do you do in cases of GBV? Where do you go. What are the steps to follow?
As you already know, the Police often re-victimizes the victim by treating the story nonchalantly and by shrugging incidents off. There is no protocol so nothing can be done, thus the victim ends up frustrated and victimized.
The HIAS professionals – social workers, councilors, psychologists, case officers — explain that there are not enough laws covering GBV, there is no clear plan backed by judges and the Police, and that applies to migrant women, men and children equally.
Making things even further complicated is the diagnosis of GBV, which on its own is progressive. Incidences erupt innocently enough between couples, and in families, and escalates to life threatening situations.
The signs of GBV are confusing too, and may be falsely interpreted as love and affection but in reality are control seeking and domineering.
Many individuals fail to interpret what those GBV signs mean. More tomorrow.
