The Business and Professional
Women’s Club Grand Cayman congratulates the Cayman Islands Government on the
recent initiatives taken toward implementing legislation to help the women of
the Cayman Islands.
The Prevention of Gender
Discrimination Bill 2010 and The Protection from Domestic Violence Bill, 2010
are seen as strong and positive strides in the right direction for our
community and these initiatives are fully supported by the BPW Club.
BPW Cayman has been in existence in
the Cayman Islands for 34 years and BPW Club has previously worked with all
governments toward formally addressing the negative effects of domestic
violence, the stalking and sexual harassment in our society and in assisting
with the development of legislation in the Cayman Islands to address these
issues.
BPW International continues to be
known both locally and internationally as the voice of women in the workforce
and is the largest women’s organization in the world.
BPW Cayman is therefore proud to
have played such a vital role in upholding its mission statement here in the
Cayman Islands.
From the inception of the Club, the
members have worked tirelessly in lobbying government for legislation
protecting the rights of women and children.
After many years of steadfast
effort, the club was successful in persuading the Government to enact The
Summary Jurisdiction (Domestic Violence) Law 1992.
Led by stalwart members such as
Cissy Delapenha, Annie Multon, Sybil McLaughlin, Beverly Banks and many others,
the Club was instrumental in the establishment of the Cayman Islands Crisis
Centre, the Legal Befrienders Programme and many other projects designed to
assist victims of domestic violence in the Cayman Islands.
In addition, the Young BPW
Committee formed a task force in 2005 to investigate, assess and provide the
necessary legislative recommendations as they related to the protection of
victims of sexual harassment and stalking in the Cayman Islands.
This task force delivered its legislative
recommendations report to the Cayman Islands Government in January of 2009.
This report was accompanied by:-
A Legal Research Report which
outlined the existing legislative framework of the Cayman Islands and a
comparative analysis of the laws of 11 jurisdictions as they related to sexual
harassment and stalking;
A Survey Report produced by the US
firm Minimax Consulting which summarised the data collected by the task force
in 2006 through its local sexual harassment and stalking survey, and
Protect Cayman, a documentary which
was filmed regarding the task force’s work and these issues as they faced the
people of the Cayman Islands.
At the conclusion of the project
The Sexual Harassment and Stalking task force donated all funds remaining in
its coffers to The Estella Scott-Roberts Foundation, in recognition of the
vital role this important organisation plays in our community and of the
invaluable contribution to the task force’s cause by the late Mrs. Estella
Scott-Roberts.
The annual Silent Witness March was
held on Monday, 18 October 2010 to recognise the many victims of domestic abuse
and to highlight the need to support the BPW Club in its stand against domestic
abuse.
The next campaign is the annual 16
Days of Activism against Gender Abuse which will commence on 25 November and
conclude on 10 December.
The members of BPW Club thank the
community for their support, and the members pledge to continue in their
efforts of raising women’s issues as being of paramount importance in our
society.
Business & Professional Women’s
Club Grand Cayman
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