When A Woman Is Right

Minister of Labour, Public Administration and Empowerment Dr Jacqui Quinn-Leandro, under whose portfolio Gender Affairs falls, is appealing to all guilty parties to desist from acts where women are exploited.

Quinn-Leandro pointed out that the UPP administration is keen on implementing stringent measures for first time offenders, due to what seems to be an increase in such acts. She added that the government has undoubtedly demonstrated its commitment to the "gender agenda," and as such, will continue, in its anticipated second term in office, to pursue and protect the rights of young women and girls in Antigua and Barbuda.

"We've spoken about trafficking of women, we've spoken about the practice of holding on to the passports of workers who come in here, particularly sex workers who are in that kind of industry, and one of the things that the Directorate of Gender Affairs would certainly like to look at is increasing the fines and penalties of any kind of sexual assault," the minister says.

All this will be done to ensure that offenders get a clear message that such acts are wrong, Dr Quinn-Leandro underscored, while maintaining that Antigua and Barbuda, like the international community, is thoroughly committed to protecting the rights of women.

"All of these conventions and protocols that we have signed on to are protecting and undergirthing women's rights," she says. "All of the human rights of a woman and an individual, we certainly would want to protect."

The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) provides the basis for realising equality between women and men through ensuring women's equal access to, and equal opportunities in, political and public life, including the right to vote and to stand for election, as well as education, health and employment.

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