"I personally pledge to end violence against women, to be bold, to not remain indifferent, to stand firm for peace, to speak out against abuse, mobilize peers to act and to propose solutions"
The Prime Minister of St. Maarten attended the Seventh Day Adventist Church Women’s Ministry Global Campaign against ending domestic violence entitled "End it Now" March and Rally on Saturday. The event was held as a campaign to end Domestic Violence against women both locally and internationally and is an initiative of various faith-based organizations throughout the world.
In her comments during the event the Prime Minister stated that all within the community of St. Maarten have the responsibility to end domestic violence on St. Maarten; "One in every four women on the island will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. An estimated 1.3 million are victim of physical assault by an intimate partner each year throughout the region and an estimated 85% of Domestic Violence Victims are women," commented the Prime Minister during her remarks.
"Historically women are most often victimized by someone they knew and females who are twenty to twenty-five of age are at the greatest risk of non-intimate partner violence and it is a sad reality, even in our society, that most cases of domestic violence are never reported to the authorities," continued the Prime Minister.
The PM emphasized that it is often boasted of St. Maarten that the island is a very cosmopolitan society, but that that also brings with it greater social issues "This cosmopolitanism also means that in our country our women and children are suffering. We need to end this now and be part of the solution."
The Prime Minister also stressed that the crux of solving the cycle of domestic violence is to realize that children who witness instances of domestic violence are at the strongest risk factor for transferring violent behavior from generation to the next and so it is up to this generation to say "End it Now". It is also important to realize that boys who witness Domestic Violence are twice as likely to abuse their own partners and children when they become adults and thirty to sixty percent of perpetrators of intimate partner violence also abuse children in the household. We need to take these upsetting statistics into deep consideration and as Government and as people take the necessary steps to End it Now," stated the PM.
The PM concluded by challenging St. Maarten to committing themselves to ending the scourge of Domestic Violence on St. Maarten. I personally pledge to end violence against women, to be bold, to not remain indifferent, to stand firm for peace, to speak out against abuse, mobilize peers to act and to propose solutions and to advocate for change and make our community more civil and a better place for all. If we cannot commit to that our focus is wrong," concluded the Prime Minister.