Functions, Challenges, and Future Development: The Work of the Women's Resource Centre in the Cayman Islands

Tammy Ebanks Bishop

1. History of the Establishment of the Women's Resource Centre in the Cayman Islands

In 1995, Mrs Edna M. Moyle, JP and Elected Member for North Side and Mrs Berna L. Thompson Murphy, MBE and Third Elected Member for George Town, moved Private Member's Motion 1/95, which requested the Establishment of an Office of Women's Affairs. Mrs Moyle stated, "The purpose of this women's office is first to raise awareness and increased consciousness of the various aspects of women's issues and to highlight those areas in legislation, health and safety which need work, so that the status and quality of life of all women in these Islands can be improved."1

In her contribution to the debate on the establishment of an Office of Women's Affairs, Mrs Berna L. Thompson Murphy raised the point that the establishment of the Bureau or Desk for Women's Affairs within a country has proven to be no guarantee for success. Drawing from the experiences of other societies, and from the publication Ladies In Limbo: The Fate of Women's Bureaus, Mrs Thompson Murphy noted that the lack of trained staff, funds, or political support to compete with other well established departments of Government, as well as the assignment of insensitive male administrators to head a Woman's Desk, had proven to be disastrous in the experience of other Caribbean societies.2 She also stated that she had examined the objectives of six of the larger Women's Bureaus in the region, and she suggested eight priorities, which the establishment of a Women's Office should focus on and attempt to accomplish. These priorities were:

  1. Data collection and research.
  2. Participation in the formation of national plans.
  3. Co-ordination of programmes affecting women.
  4. Monitoring and evaluation of ongoing and future plans to ensure that the interests of women were reflected, and the involvement of women as beneficiaries and participants was assured. [i.e. gender mainstreaming]
  5. Documentation and public relations on policies.
  6. The promotion of innovative pilot projects.
  7. Guidance and advisory services.
  8. Liaison with regional and international bodies.3

After several male members of the Legislative Assembly made their contributions to this Private Member's Motion, the motion was unanimously accepted, and the subject area of Women's Affairs was added to the ministerial level of the Cayman Islands Government in 1995.

In taking steps towards the establishment of such an office, in 1996 the Ministry then titled Ministry of Community Development, Sports, Women's & Youth Affairs & Culture obtained the services of a consultant, Magda Pollard (former Women's Affairs Officer of the CARICOM Secretariat) to provide a report that would advise on the establishment of an Office of Women's Affairs. Within her report there were several recommendations to achieve various components or strategies for the establishment of an Office of Women's Affairs, and it was decided by the Ministry to act on Recommendation 2.1 of the report - establishment of a resource centre, which would be to fulfil the public education component of this new area of Government responsibility.4 Ms Pollard explained the primary mandate of such a centre would be to "ensure that the public is well informed on issues of concern to women through discussions and utilization of all forms of media."5 With this decision, the Women's Resource Centre (WRC) was opened in November 1997 and functioned for a year at a part-time level with a small group of dedicated volunteers. In December 1998, the WRC became operational full time with the addition of a Programme Officer and has since doubled its office space and staff with the addition of an Administrative Secretary and most recently one Counsellor.

In 2003 under the present Minister, Dr the Honourable Frank McField, the subject area of Women's Affairs was changed to Gender Affairs as a result of the Ministry's undertaking to development of a National Gender Policy and to highlight equal value to be placed on the contributions of women and men as partners in national development and the development of the society as a whole. This name shift indicates the Government's desire for an increasing awareness, knowledge and sensitivity among all stakeholder institutions and the public about gender differences and imbalances and the need to equalize the uneven situation. It also reflects the need for our male counterparts to be actively involved with women as partners in developing strategies towards equality between women and men and girls and boys. As stated in the final draft version of the Cayman Islands' National Policy on Gender Equity & Equality, "a gender perspective is necessary if policy makers, planners, administrators and society at large are to understand the underlying causes and find adequate long-term solutions for crucial national and global issues such as labour, trade and migration problems."6

2. The Functions of the Women's Resource Centre in the Cayman Islands

Inside the Women's Resource Centre there is a UNFPA (United Nations Populations Fund) poster with a picture of a girl's hand holding a open book; the poster reads:

Power.

Education is power.

Educate a girl and you empower a woman, a family, a community, a nation, the world.

This is a visual example of the role of the WRC in the community. The motto of the Women's Resource Centre is "Empowerment through Information and Education." Because the area of women's issues and gender issues are so new within Caymanian society, when the word empowerment is used in reference to women, it is often distorted by some to portray the feeling that women want to dominate men. However, empowerment encompasses self-sufficiency and self-confidence and is inherently linked to knowledge and voice."Empowerment means achieving control over one's life through information received thereby expanded one's choices. Becoming empowered is a function of individual initiative, which is often facilitated by institutional change."7 The Women's Resource Centre and other organizations around the world like it are an institutional means of trying to improve the status of women in society to be equitable to that of men's status.

The establishment of an agency such as the Women's Resource Centre (WRC) is a result of women coming together collectively to bring to light certain issues that are affecting their ability to function in society as equals to men and affecting their ability to realize their full human potential. By definition, the government's acceptance of the responsibility for a Ministry of Women's Affairs and the eventual establishment of the WRC are strategic gender interests, and the WRC's programming areas address the practical gender needs of women. Both women and men have strategic gender interests. Women's strategic gender interests relate to women's empowerment and what is required to overcome the historically subordinate position of women to men in society. An example of men's strategic gender interests are the promotion of men's health issues in preventive health education, as is advocated in the final draft document Cayman Islands' National Policy on Gender Equity & Equality. It states, "The promotion of men's health issues in preventive health education constitutes a combining of practical and strategic male gender interests. On one hand, it addresses men's practical need for health service and information. On the other hand, it is strategic to men's empowerment through heightened awareness of their health issues."8

In conclusion, the function of the Women's Resource Centre in the Caymanian community is to educate the public on issues that affect women's lives so that they can make informed choices, which will better their status in life thus realizing their full human potential. With this role, it is obviously natural that the WRC serves as an advocate to its clients by assisting them in achieving their goals or obtaining the information or services they desire. The WRC also serves as a point of contact for the general public to receive information and referrals to the various resources, services, and programmes that can assist women and families. As was stated about the Women's Resource Centre on March 30, 2004, in the Caymanian Compass Editorial entitled Resources for Women:

What started as small, faltering steps in Cayman's provision of services for women have become steady and now form a firm support system for those in need.... The much wanted support system that the centre offers by its very presence, and more importantly, by the programmes and personnel, who are there to help, reveals steady progress made in this vital area of dynamics within the community.

3. Services Provided to Individuals by the Women's Resource Centre

Many of the services and programmes that the WRC provides relate to the practical gender needs of women. For example, working women who are breastfeeding have a private room in which they can access our breast pump or bring their own to express milk and return to work. Even though women are our primary focus group, we do not deny males access to the WRC's services or programmes in order to enhance themselves. The staff complement of the WRC that is responsible for organizing and maintaining these services and programmes consist of 3 persons: (1) Programme Manager, (1) Counselor, and (1) Administrative Secretary. The following is a comprehensive description of the services provided by the WRC to the community:

4. Collaborations and Services Provided to Organizations by the Women's Resource Centre

Since its inception, one of the strengths of the Women's Resource Centre has been its ability to network and collaborate well with other agencies in the public and private sector. In fact, the Women's Resource Centre would not have as high a level of public acceptance without the support of and collaborations with other agencies. The following are some of the current relationships the Women's Resource Centre has with other agencies in the community:

As is evident from the number of various collaborating relationships with other organizations, the WRC strongly believes in the benefits gained from working with other organizations in the community- both private and public sector. In the early development of the WRC when there was only one staff member at the centre, the issue of collaborating and network with others was a definite necessity in order to provide a variety of services. What was once a necessity has now become a philosophy. We will continue to strive towards strengthening our current relationships with other organizations and seek to develop new partnerships in order to make the society of the Cayman Islands a better place for women and families.

5. The WRC's Current Functions vs. The Priorities for an Office of Women's Affairs

As mentioned earlier in the section outlining the History of the WRC, the discussion of Private Members Motion 1/95 outlined eight priorities that were needed in the establishment of a Women's Office. The services and programmes provided by the WRC currently facilitate three of these priorities. The WRC co-ordinates programmes to empower women, provides guidance and advisory services (i.e. counselling and referral services), and promotes innovative pilot projects. Two examples of such pilot projects would be the WRC's promotion and coordination of the Legal Befrienders Programme (originally spearheaded by the Business and Professional Women's Club) and the introduction to the Caymanian community of an international project such as the Clothesline Project.

Since the Women's Resource Centre's primary function is the area of programming and not policy making, the WRC currently deals on a micro or individual level with the practical gender needs of women. The priority of "data collection and research" is something that is advocated as a future goal for the WRC to provide the community, should we receive the necessary resources to provide us with a trained Research and Development Officer. The remaining priorities mentioned earlier in the Private Member's Motion regarding the establishment of an Office for Women's Affairs are: 1) monitoring and evaluation of ongoing and future [national development] plans to ensure that the interests of women were reflected and that the involvement of women as beneficiaries and participants was assured [i.e. gender mainstreaming], 2) participation in the formation of national plans, 3) documentation and public relations on policies, and 4) liaison with regional and international bodies. These are all priorities that need to be pursued from a macro level or a national level in order to be successful and effective.

The functions of the proposed priorities currently not being overseen by the WRC would perhaps best be carried out at a higher level of Government such as the Ministry level, which is responsible for policy development and guiding the implementation of policies, and not at the programming level of the WRC. This is not to say that the WRC's input into the development of national plans would not be beneficial, as we recently were asked to participate in the formation of two national strategic plans in the area of health and drug abuse prevention. However, in order for the input into national development plans and gender mainstreaming to have a stronger effect, it must come from the top echelon of Government (the Ministerial level) so that policy makers and planners from all sectors in government are cognisant of Government's strong commitment towards gender equity and equality. Therefore, the Ministry's decision to embark on the development of a National Policy on Gender Equity and Equality was indeed a step in the right direction towards achieving the remainder of the above-mentioned priorities.

6. Overview: The Clientele of the WRC

There are two main factors affecting the public's ability to access the services of the Women's Resource Centre: (1) we are easily accessible on a ground floor level in central George Town and (2) we are located in a business and shopping complex and not housed in a government building. Being located away from a centralized Government building such as the Tower Building lends itself to the clients feeling more at ease to access services and that the centre is more of a "community centre" addressing the specific needs of women.

From its inception, there was a stigma attached to obtaining services from the WRC due to the public's perception that the centre was only utilized by women who were experiencing domestic abuse. In a small population such as ours, there was a question as to whether or not women would actually access the services of the WRC. With the expansion of the types of programmes that we offer, we have been able to lessen the stigma attached to being seen at the WRC. In other words, if someone sees a woman accessing the Women's Resource Centre there are a variety of reasons she could be there - using the community computer or resource library or breastfeeding, etc.

Over the years, there has been a steady, positive shift towards the public's acceptance and use of the WRC. For example, the number of persons who accessed WRC's referral and/or guidance and advisory services in 2001 was 460 and two years later in 2003 the number of persons accessing the WRC for this particular service serviced has increased by 39% to 607 persons. The public has also accepted and accessed one of our newest yet most critically needed services - individual counselling. There were 22 clients counselled during the first three months that counselling services were available in 2002. However, the average number of clients counselled in a three-month period in 2003 is 48 clients. This is a 118% increase when compared to the previous year's quarter.

Additionally, there have been misconceptions expressed by the public to WRC's staff as to who accesses the WRC's services and programmes. For example, Caymanians have the misperception that only expatriates use our services, and vice-versa non-Caymanians believe the service is only for Caymanians. However, in a sampling of some 90 participants who attended educational workshops on a variety of topics at the WRC in 2003, the following information was ascertained from those who completed the Programme Evaluation Form. (NB: Not all participants filled out the Programme Evaluation Form, and the ones who did fill out the form did not complete all aspects of the form. The following data is based on the information that was provided on 90 Programme Evaluation Forms.)

When analyzing the data from the Programme Evaluation Forms, it serves to highlight that Caymanians and non-Caymanians access the WRC's services equally. It also provided information to develop the most common profile of the participant attending educational or informational workshops at the WRC. The profile indicates that the workshop participant is most likely a Caymanian female, aged 30-39, who lives in the district of George Town and learned about the programme from a friend.

In analyzing these same Programme Evaluations Forms from 2003, we observed that 99% of the forms rated the overall workshop as above average. This supports a common business philosophy that word of mouth is the best form of advertising. The fact that friends referred the majority of persons attending programmes at WRC supports the notion that government agencies and services are no different than any other business - in order for the public to utilize our services, we have to strive to produce quality products comparable to the private sector. If a consumer has a product that they are satisfied with, they are going to tell others about it. Conversely, it can also be extremely detrimental to organizations of our nature if there is "bad press" spread by word of mouth in the community regarding issues such as poor customer service, providing incorrect information or breaching confidentiality.

7. Challenges Facing Women in the Cayman Islands: A WRC Perspective

This section of the paper serves to highlight the major issues experienced by clients of the Women's Resource Centre and in general the challenges faced by women in the Cayman Islands.

7.1 Domestic Abuse

The Women's Resource Centre recognizes the fact the domestic abuse is indeed a significant issue for women in the Cayman Islands and around the world for that matter. Indeed, in the broader context, domestic abuse is a clear violation of human rights that is quietly perpetrated within our homes, our community, and our country on a daily basis. "Evidence from the World Bank suggests that the Caribbean region may be among the most violent in the world with 30-50% of adult women experiencing psychological abuse each year, and 10-35% physical violence."9 Caribbean researchers on domestic violence have also identified rigid gender roles as one important cause of regional domestic violence.10

Domestic abuse is a very prevalent challenge for women in the Cayman Islands. However, at the WRC we acknowledge that it is not the only challenge women may face throughout their lives. To receive input from the public as to what these other challenges were, an informal poll was conducted as an event for Honouring Women Month 2004. The poll asked the question: "What do you think is the biggest challenge facing females today in the Cayman Islands?" We chose to say "females" instead of women in wording the question in order to elicit the concerns of our girl children as well. We encouraged all persons in society - women, men, boys, and girls - to cast their vote for one of the ten possible pre-set answers to the poll question. The poll was available on our website and ballot forms were available at the WRC and at any events we held within the community during Honouring Women Month.

As anticipated, the issue of Domestic Abuse (including financial, verbal, sexual, etc.) is still at the forefront of the public's concern accounting for 27% of the total votes cast. Following in 2nd place at 19% was Single Parenting Issues (difficulty collecting maintenance, absent fathers, etc.), and 3rd place at 14% was Lack of Support from Partner and/or Extended Family Support (i.e., juggling work & family). The complete results of the 2004 Honouring Women Month poll were as follows:

VOTES
76 Domestic Abuse (includes financial, verbal, sexual, etc.)
53 Single parenting issues (difficulty collecting maintenance, absent fathers, etc.)
39 Lack of support from partner and/or extended family support (i.e. juggling work & family)
34 Lack of self-esteem/"girl power" mentality
34 Teenage pregnancy (lack of contraceptive and sex education, etc.)
13 Inequality in the work place
11 Lack of healthy lifestyles (poor nutrition, obesity, STIs & HIV/AIDS)
09 Lack of positive role models
06 Unemployment issues
05 Immigration issues
280 Total Votes

The level of the public's awareness and concern for the issue of domestic abuse has been also been significantly raised over the past decade by the efforts of government entities such as the Ministry of Women's Affairs (now Gender affairs) and the WRC and by non-governmental organizations such as the Business & Professional Women's Club and the partnerships developed between government and other non-government organizations. Since 2000, the Ministry that has held responsibility for women's or gender affairs addressed this issue by coordinating the regional domestic violence sensitivity training programme designed by CAFRA (Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action) entitled Domestic Violence Intervention Programme for Police Officers, and Other Front Line Professionals. The WRC's launching of the first ever Clothesline Project in the Cayman Islands began with 51 T-shirts, which is 20 more T-shirts than the original launching of the Clothesline Project in the United States. This speaks volumes to the how the community is suffering and wanting to express their experiences regarding domestic abuse. For several years now, the Business and Professional Women's Club (Grand Cayman) has organized the Silent Witness March in support of victims who have died as a result of domestic violence and in support of those who silently suffer, and they have spearheaded the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign as well. Additionally with the support of Government, the country's first shelter for abused women and their children, Cayman Islands Crisis Centre, was opened in March 2003. This agency was one of the missing links in the campaign against domestic abuse and also serves as another catalyst to highlight this issue that is negatively affecting women and families in our community.

As noted earlier, the WRC currently has only one counsellor, Cindy Blekaitis. When asked what the main issues that clients presented to her, she stated the following, "The main issues that I have seen in the clients are abuse issues, relationship difficulties (i.e. infidelity and single parenting issues), and anxiety/depression issues - in that order. However, low self-esteem issues are the foundation that these problems are built on."11 In regards to the types of abuse seen, Mrs Blekaitis reported that clients are primarily victims of physical and emotional abuse. "Clients tend to be more willing to discuss emotional abuse, and the physical abuse often becomes the breaking point at which they seek help," she stated. This supports the popular perception of domestic violence being the number one challenge faced by women in the Cayman Islands. However it is the opinion of the WRC staff that one of the possible answers to the Honouring Women Month Poll - "lack of self esteem/'girl power' mentality" - should have ranked higher in the poll, as we perceive this condition to perhaps be the biggest underlying challenge for females in the Cayman Islands.

7.2 Lack of Self-Esteem - Its Link to Domestic Abuse and How Gender Plays a Role

Self-esteem is often defined as a favourable impression of oneself or self-respect. However, Ralph Waldo Emerson created one of the simplest definitions of self-esteem when he said, "We are what we think about all day long." The WRC considers that self esteem or lack of self-esteem in this context, is the umbrella issue at the core of many of the challenges faced by females in Cayman such as domestic abuse, teenage pregnancy, lack of support (financial, emotional or otherwise) from one's partner, etc. The WRC's current efforts to address this important issue are through individual counselling sessions and various workshops on topics such as "Assertiveness for Women" & "Learning to Love You: A Body Image Workshop" that provide information and techniques that if utilized will increase a person's self-esteem.

In "What Self-Esteem Is and Is Not" Nathaniel Branden, Ph.D. states, "Self-esteem is the disposition to experience oneself as being competent to cope with the basic challenges of life and of being worthy of happiness. It is confidence in the efficacy of our mind, in our ability to think. By extension, it is confidence in our ability to learn, make appropriate choices and decisions, and respond effectively to change. It is also the experience that success, achievement, fulfilment - happiness - are right and natural for us."12 The dangers that occur when self-esteem is not present within our children are evident in our society today. Caymanian girls are growing up to be women who for reasons including an unhealthy family background, societal gender roles, or unhealthy relationships have developed a critical inner voice that consciously and unconsciously speaks to her in a manner that drags her down so that she loses the capacity to love herself and expect happiness in life, thus trapping her in a web of unhealthy decision-making practices.

Just as domestic abuse is known as a cyclical scourge that perpetuates itself over time, the lack of self-esteem could also be considered an issue in Caymanian society that manifests itself generation after generation. These two issues - lack of self-esteem and domestic abuse - are so tightly intertwined that it becomes difficult to discuss one with out the other. The lack of self-esteem in an individual can often lead to unhealthy decision-making practices that eventually result in being the victim in an unhealthy or abusive relationship; this victimization can occur in the form of various types of abuse - financial, emotional, sexual, or physical. Children who grow up in abusive homes tend to have low self-esteem among many other personal and behavioural issues.

On the other side of the fence, persons who actually are victims in abusive relationships become so conditioned by their abuser to believe that they are not worthy or capable of anything that they completely loose all sense of self and self worth after a period of time. This void of self can also lend itself to the victim self-medicating with drugs or alcohol to escape reality or engaging in high-risk behaviours such as unsafe sexual encounters. Branden concluded that "Self-esteem is not the euphoria or buoyancy that may be temporarily induced by a drug, a compliment, or a love affair. It is not an illusion or hallucination. If it is not grounded in reality, if it is not built over time through the appropriate operation of mind, it is not self-esteem."13

Society plays an integral role in influencing our gender roles and how we view ourselves as women and men, thus affecting our levels of self-esteem. "Gender becomes the central organising structure of our psyches: the axis around which our personalities are constructed. Our own self-worth is ultimately measured against this yardstick of gender."14 As illustrated in the Caribbean Training Manual on Domestic Violence Intervention for Police Officers and Other Front Line Professionals,

some of the traditional societal mandates for females are - be weak or dependant, be good and know your place, accommodating to others, sacrificially caring, and valued for appearance. The traditional male mandates are of course the complete opposite - express no emotions, do not acknowledge problems, be tough, expect entitlement, kill or be killed, and valued for status. These characteristics are attributed to defining what it means to be female or male in Caribbean society; however if we are trying to achieve gender equality, then all persons in society need to strive towards achieving our innate human potential (see Table 1, p. 23). These mandates ascribed by society to females set women up to play the submissive role of a victim and men to play the dominating role of a bully in their relationships with each other. Therefore because of such negatively ascribed characteristics and the rigid gender roles that exist within the Caribbean culture, females are more vulnerable to having low self-esteem and becoming involved in abuse relationships than our male counterparts.

Social Labelling: Traditional Male & Female Mandates Organized By Gender
Traditional Female Mandates Innate Human Potential Traditional Male Mandates
No Anger; No Protest; Know your place; Be good; Deny need Intelligent No Problem Here; Suppress vulnerability and painful emotional no fears, tears, weakness or dependency
Be fragile, weak, dependent Co-operative; vulnerable No Illness; Be tough, independent, endure
Valued for appearance; "decoration" Strong Valued for Status; succeed
Accommodate; Provide services Caring; Compassionate Expect entitlement
Valued for mothering Intuitive Valued for status, success
Obey; comply; concede Responsible Dominate; be in control
Accept blame Spontaneous Discipline; blame; punish
Nurture/devotion; "stand by your man" Intimate Protect, assume responsibility, take up arms, self sacrifice
Sacrificially caring Curious Kill or be killed
i.e. Victim/"Submission" i.e. Bully/"Domination"

Excerpts from Table in Caribbean Training Manual on Domestic Violence Intervention for Police Officers and Other Front Line Professionals, p. 34.

As stated earlier, the issue of self-esteem is something that develops over a period of time. This is why childhood and especially the adolescent stage of development are so critical in either developing or destroying one's self-esteem. The lack of self-esteem in our adolescent girls is observable through perceived amount of increasing incidents of teenage pregnancies in the Cayman Islands. If young girls have no value of self or self-identity, then it is very easy for them to look for validation from others (i.e. unhealthy relationships with boys or older men). Additionally if the young girls have a low self-esteem, they are more than likely not empowered to demand that their sexual encounters are safe and protected. These same girls who become teenage mothers are at a higher risk for entering or continuing to be in abusive relationship in their adult life.

7.3 Findings From Honouring Women Month 2004

With the 2004 Honouring Women Month theme, "Challenges, Solutions, and the Way Forward", we aimed to solicit information from the public as to what they felt were the biggest challenges faced by females in the Cayman Islands, as well as discuss in various public forums the possible solutions to the challenges we knew women frequently faced.

While visiting Cayman Brac for Honouring Women Month 2004, WRC staff spoke with a volunteer group of sixteen girls at the Cayman Brac High School. We sought to empower the girls with information on any subject the girls wished to discuss. The majority of their concerns raised focused on abusive relationships, sexual education and love. When this same group of young women were asked to cast their vote in the Honouring Women Month Poll, 62% of them chose teenage pregnancy (lack of contraceptive and sex education, etc.) as the biggest challenge facing females in the Cayman Islands. This was not surprising as we noted that this was one of the most common answers given when the poll was administered to the young people in Grand Cayman as well. This is a clear indicator that there is a definite need to empower our young people, both girls and boys, with more information and education on sexual relationships.

Not only did we interact with the adolescents in the community during Honouring Women Month (HWM), but we solicited voluntary discussions from the adults in the community as well. At a panel discussion focusing on the month's theme, "Challenges, Solutions, and The Way Forward" the results of the HWM Poll 2004 were discussed. Throughout the event, there were four main re-occurring points that surfaced when the panellists and audience members discussed the challenges females faced in the Cayman Islands. These points were as follows:

  1. There is a need for more cultural awareness to strengthen our identity and in turn our self-esteem.
  2. We have to value our roles as women and not let others define us.
  3. We all can be role models to our girl children.
  4. Children learn what they live.

Although stated in a different manner, when one analyses these main points their core meanings relate back to issues of self esteem and the gender roles ascribed by society to women. Even when looking at the 2nd and 3rd ranked challenge in the poll - single parenting issues (difficulty collecting maintenance, absent fathers, etc.) and lack of support from partner and/or extended family support (i.e. juggling work and family) - these are just the manifestations of the problems of low self-esteem and negatively ascribed gender roles for women.

However bleak the situation may seem, there is a positive outlook on these problems because they are issues that can be changed over time. With knowledge and guidance, one can improve self-esteem and engage in healthy decision-making practices, thus leaving abusive relationships. Gender roles are fluid and change over time; they are not set in stone. Therefore, as a society we can change gender roles for both women and men so that both sexes can break through the boundaries that keep us from achieving our full human potential.

8. Challenges of the Women's Resource Centre in the Cayman Islands

This section of the paper serves to identify the main challenges and vulnerabilities faced by the Women's Resource Centre as an organization.

8.1 General Lack of Understanding the WRC's Role in Gender Development

Looking after the developmental needs of both women and men is something that a Women's Resource Centre, a Ministry of Gender Affairs or even the establishment of a Men's Resource Centre cannot do alone. Within this lies the challenge in educating the public and other institutions to realize that it is not just the WRC, but all institutions both public and private, play a vital role in achieving the goal of gender equality. As mentioned earlier, strategic gender needs for men and women are different; for women it normally relates to women's empowerment and what is required to overcome the historically subordinate position of women to men in society. Men have other strategic gender needs. Working towards gender equality is something that requires linkages with the departments within the Ministry of Gender Affairs, with other government Ministry's and departments, and inter-institutionally between public, private and non-governmental sectors. As stated in the gender policy document, it is the responsibility for all stakeholders to examine our organizations programmes and services with a gender lens to "promote gender equity among target groups by taking gender specific affirmative actions on behalf of a disadvantaged gender in cases where systemic or structural inequalities exist."15

Having only highlighted the challenges of the female population in the Cayman Islands does not mean that the Women's Resource Centre does not support the development of our male counterparts. We support the idea that men too should be able to develop to their full potential in all areas of life and the need for us to work in partnership in all areas of development. One of the suggestions in the final draft document of the Cayman Islands National Policy for Gender Equity and Equality supported by the Women's Resource Centre is the development of a gender-sensitive family code or programme and for the creation of a Family Wellness Agency or Centre, which will give equal support to men and women in accordance with their needs.16 This Family Wellness Agency or Centre's main focus would be providing parenting and family life education programmes to the public, and among its programmes would be services targeting the emotional well being of men and those who are fathers. A Male Support Officer strategically located with this centre would be able to assist with this type of programming.

8.2 Geography

The geographic make up of the Cayman Islands presents a challenge to the WRC's ability to serve the entire population. The country consists of three islands - Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. The majority of the population resides in Grand Cayman therefore there is a definite concentration of services and programmes for the public on this island that are not available to the Sister Islands. Currently the only service that is accessible to the Sister Islands is the Legal Befrienders Phoneline, which provides free legal advice to victims of domestic abuse; otherwise, we have to travel by air to Cayman Brac or Little Cayman to provide our programmes and services. There is a definite need and desire to provide more outreach information and education into the community and schools in Cayman Brac and Little Cayman; however the present staff level does not enable us to do this, as often we would like.

8.3 Lack of Research

The pillars of the Cayman Islands' economy have been the finance and tourism industry for at least the past two decades, and there has been much research done in these revenue-generating sectors of the society. However, there has been relatively little local research conducted on the sociological development of our country. There is a definite need for more local research in areas such as teenage pregnancy and domestic abuse for example. Additionally, it would be beneficial if the research conducted in other spectrums of society had gender-specific data segregation, and it would also be beneficial to all stakeholders if their findings were examined with gender analysis. The need to have human resources and finances allotted for research and development in sociological areas are necessary so that the WRC and other service providers can better evaluate the benefits being derived to the community from their programmes and services.

8.4 Additional Training

Not only is there is a definite need for the Women's Resource Centre staff to receive more training in the area of women in development and gender development, but it would also be beneficial if all department and section heads within our Ministry and throughout Government received gender training in order to ensure that gender issues and concerns are routinely addressed in all current and future programmes and activities in the various sectors. By receiving gender training this would enable administrators to look at their own activities with a 'gender lens'.

9. Vulnerabilities to the Women's Resource Centre in the Cayman Islands

There following are two potential issues that leave the Women's Resource Centre vulnerable to effectively carrying out its mission statement and would hamper the country's efforts towards gender equality.

9.1 Lack of Gender Knowledge and Sensitivity Among Policy and Decision Makers.

In most countries around the world, women or gender sections within Governments are extremely vulnerable due to the lack of gender knowledge and sensitivity of political leaders and the nature of the developmental services that they provide as opposed to revenue generating services. As mentioned earlier, the document Ladies In Limbo: The Fate of Women's Bureaus stated that the lack of trained staff, funds, or political support to compete with other well-established departments of Government, as well as the assignment of insensitive male administrators to oversee a Woman's Desk, have proven to be a disastrous experience in other Caribbean societies.17 While the current administration is supportive, due to the nature of politics, it is a definite risk factor for the Women's Resource Centre.

9.2 The Name Game: Women's Resource Centre, Men's Resource Centre & Family Resource Centre

The name of the Women's Resource Centre has often been a contentious issue for some in the Cayman Islands. Even so much so that a name change to Family Resource Centre was suggested in the country's National Strategic Plan (1999-2008) Vision 2008, Strategy 2, Action Plan 2, Action Step 9 which states "Rename and modify the Women's Resource Centre to Family Resource Centre to better facilitate this [Family Life Education programme] and all other family related programmes" (p. 17). The fruition of this vulnerability would actually be the by-product of the previously mentioned lack of gender knowledge and sensitivity among policy makers. Putting the word Family in front of Resource Centre may seem like a "gender sensitive" thing to do because it would include males, however in the eyes of the WRC staff changing the name to Family Resource Centre would be inadvisable as it would mean the following:

Some feel that changing the name to a Family Resource Centre would be a way to include the male population since there is the opinion among some that there should be a 'Men's Resource Centre' too. Some men have expressed the notion that they feel discriminated against because there is a Women's Resource Centre and not a 'Men's Resource Centre'. However this is just a reflection of the lack of gender knowledge and understanding of gender relationships or dynamics by the public at large. Men and women have different gender based needs that are required to fulfill their quest towards achieving their full human potential. Therefore creating a 'Men's Resource Centre', just because there is a Women's Resource Centre and without properly identifying the specific gender needs of men in the Cayman Islands, would be illogical. Hence, the research conducted by the Research and Development Team for the Cayman Islands National Policy on Gender Equity and Equality, which consisted of women and men, served to highlight areas which needed to be addressed to achieve both women's and men's gender needs. Their findings didn't advocate for the establishment of a Men's Resource Centre but advocating for empowering men by having improvements made in various sectors of society such as health or family life.

When reviewing the challenges and vulnerabilities of the Women's Resource Centre listed above, it does seem that, unfortunately, we too have followed down the path of other women's institutions in the Caribbean as outlined earlier in Ladies In Limbo: The Fate of Women's Bureaus. The WRC is competing for funds against other well established government departments; our staff composition is extremely small and needs additional training; there is support at the Ministerial level, however the area of women's or gender affairs has never been as issue that is put on the front lines as a top priority at the Ministerial level. Despite the many challenges faced, the WRC does have a positive outlook because we believe our programmes and services are making a positive difference in the community, and we will continue strive to further develop services that serve to empower women and families.

10. Future Developments of the Women's Resource Centre in the Cayman Islands

In regards to what the future holds for the Women's Resource Centre, we recognize that, as with any organization, our staff is our most valuable resource. It is evident that we have an extremely loyal group of professionals in order for us to maintain the current level of programmes and services offered at the WRC. However, in order to further develop the WRC there is a need for additional staff and as previously mentioned, staff that are specifically trained in area of women's issues and/or gender development. With the allocation of funding for additional staff, we would like to expand our programmes to include the following developments.

The following list of proposed future developments would assist us in carrying out our mission statement of "enhancing the status of women and contributing towards the realization of their full potential."

  1. Develop Support Groups

    Based on the issues being experienced by our clients and the general knowledge of the challenges facing women in the Cayman Islands, there is a definite need to establish and maintain support groups for issues such as coming out of marriage or relationships, single motherhood, domestic violence, rape, or body/self image. These support groups would be facilitated by a WRC Counsellor and could be co-facilitated with other professionals. The locations of the support groups could perhaps be varied so that there is more opportunity to for the public to access services; for example, the groups could be held at the Women's Resource Centre and/or within the districts at facilities such as the new satellite offices of the Department of Children and Family Services.

  2. Additional Services for Victims of Personal Crimes

    Although a more long-term goal, the WRC would like to develop services and programmes to assist victims of personal crimes such as rape and domestic violence. This would include services such as accompanying rape or domestic abuse victims to the hospital or police stations on a 24-hour basis and through the court system when applicable. Specific rape support services are non-existent in the Cayman Islands, and rape is an issue that is not addressed as much it should be- the same as domestic abuse was a largely overlooked in the society a decade prior. A strong, collaborative relationship would need to be developed between the WRC and agencies such as the RCIP's Family Support Unit, Cayman Islands Crisis Centre, Probation and Aftercare Unit, Emergency Services, Courts Office, etc.

  3. Establishment of the Empower Program in the Community

    There is a defiant desire on behalf of the Government and the public to develop strategies that will decrease violent crime and rid society of the anti-social behaviors of both the youth and adult population. The WRC would like to see the Empower Programme implemented in the Cayman Islands as one of the preventive measures aimed at stopping the culture of violence. We also believe that a programme such as this would be extremely beneficial in addressing the issue of low-self esteem in our girl and boy children.

    The community was introduced to this US based programme when the programme's founder and president, Rosalind Wiseman, was a visiting guest speaker at the Business & Professional Women's Club's Silent Witness March 2001. The motto of this programme is "Because Violence Shouldn't Be a Right of Passage" and its mission is to work with youth to end the culture of violence. The programme is gender sensitive in that both boys and girls participate and the information provided is gender specific. An over view of The Empower Program programme is as follows:

    The Empower Program envisions a world where young people are empowered to stop violence. Empower recognizes that "young people live within a violent culture where gender roles restrict their choices and enforce silence when they or their peers are confronted by behaviour ranging from cliques, social isolation, and bullying to sexual violence, harassment and abusive relationships. Empower's visionary, effective and comprehensive approach teaches youth to transform silence into action."18

    The establishment of a preventative tool such as the Empower Programme could perhaps be a collaborative venture between a variety of agencies such as the WRC, Department of Youth & Sports, Education Department, Department of Children & Family Services, and the Cayman Islands Crisis Centre, etc.

  4. Additional Staff, Training of Staff and Expansion of Office Space

    As mentioned earlier, in able to achieve the developmental goals of the WRC, there is a need for additional staff. The addition of the following types of staff members is desired: Additional counselors/group facilitators to achieve the goal of providing expanded programmes and services for the community in Grand Cayman and in the Sister Islands such as the support groups previously mention; a research and development officer to compile studies on the effectiveness of WRC's programmes and services, gender analysis on local research already completed, and research with a gender perspective on a wide range of issues affecting women and families so that we get a clearer understanding of the extend of the status of women in the Cayman Islands.

    With additional of staff, the WRC foresees that we would be able to work with other agencies to provide community outreach on a more regular basis by providing different populations with information and education a variety of life skill topics that aim to empower women. With the increased ability to outreach, we would like to see collaborative relationships develop with Francis Bodden Girls Home, Fairbanks Prison (women's prison) and within the public and private school systems

    In regards to additional training, the WRC's Programme Manager aims to pursue a Certificate Course in Gender And Development Studies through the University of the West Indies (Long Distance Programme). We would also continue to provide training opportunities for staff as required in areas such as gender development and topics relevant to counselling.

    With the additional staff and natural evolution of services, the office facility of the Women's Resource would need to be expanded in approximately two years. This could mean expanding in our current location if space is available or looking for another suitable location. In regards to this expansion, the most important factor would be that the facility is easily accessible by all and that we are not located within a centralized Government building.

  5. Enhancement of the Maintenance & Affiliation Law

    As indicated in the informal poll conducted by the WRC in 2004 and based on general information obtained from our clients, there is a definite need to strengthen the current Maintenance and Affiliation Law in the Cayman Islands, and the WRC intends to serve as an advocate for this change. In regards to pursuing arrears of payments that were ordered by the Court through the Maintenance/Affiliation Law, the accessibility or perceived accessibility of the court system becomes an issue with many women. Once Maintenance Orders become severely in arrears, in order for the matter to be pursued it has to be dealt with by the Grand Court. Going to the Grand Court (or any court for that matter) can be an intimidating situation for most women who are fighting for child support or other personal, family issues. In many instances, the issue of maintenance/affiliation is used as a tool to financially abuse women and their children. Logically, women in these situations are not confident enough to represent themselves in court and they would feel more secure if they had an attorney to present their matter. However we know that if they are fighting for child support, it is extremely unlikely that they are going to be able to afford an attorney for their case. Under the present system, Legal Aid is currently not available to pursue Maintenance/Affiliation arrears in Grand Court; therefore because there is no Legal Aid allotted for these matters, many women just give up and do not pursue the matter through the justice system.

    In the final draft of the Cayman Islands National Policy of Gender Equity and Equality (page 70), there were suggested amendments that were put forward regarding this law that are supported by the WRC. These suggestions were as follows:

    The future developmental plans for the WRC are all designed to empower women and in turn strengthen families. However, we realize that these goals are not achievable alone. In order to make a difference in the society in the long run we will have to have strong political support, which will generate allocation of resources, and we will have to successfully collaborate with other organizations in the public and private sector.

11. Conclusion

The purpose of this paper was to provide information on the functions, challenges and future developments of the Women's Resource Centre, as well as discuss some of the challenges experienced by women in the Cayman Islands. Supported by the philosophy of sharing information and networking in order to achieve any goal, it also our hope that this paper may provide insight for other organizations and institutions just embarking on the path of gender development.

In looking back at the history of the establishment of the Women's Resource Centre, it is clear that the Government's acceptance of Private Member's Motion 1/95, the Establishment of an Office of Women's Affairs, was a major accomplishment in not just the area of gender development but social development in this country. This milestone event set off a chain reaction that raised the public's and government's level of interest in women's issues, which eventually led to the establishment of the Women's Resource Centre in 1997.

Treading on new ground with shaky legs, the WRC has now reached a point where it is an established and accepted resource within the community of the Cayman Islands. Its current function in the community is an institutional mechanism that educates the public on issues that affect the development of women and families and advocates to provide information, services, and programmes that will enable clients to improve their status in life and assist them in realizing their full human potential.

Like similar organizations around the world, the WRC faces many challenges as we dip our toes into the water of gender development. Similar to our predecessors in the Caribbean region, we too are competing for funds with other well-established departments and have an extremely small staff needing additional training in gender development. However, more importantly the greatest challenge is the general misconception of the role of the Women's Resource Centre in the country's strive towards gender development and equality. As stated in Magda Pollards report, experience has shown that "the concept of 'Women's Lib' lingers on, associated with the view that the movement is imported from North America into the Caribbean and is therefore irrelevant vis a vis the high visibility of women in Caribbean society (p. 6)." It is hoped that with time and continued education, there will be a better understanding that although women may appear to be doing well in Cayman's society, a large section of the female population are not able to realize their full human potential because of the constraints attached to their ascribed gender roles. The Women's Resource Centre provision of programmes and services aim to further them along in their quest of self-discovery and full human development.

As discussed in detail, domestic abuse and low self-esteem, which are inherently intertwined, are some of the biggest challenges affecting the ability of women in the Cayman Islands to function efficiently. Although these issues we speak about are very much personal and internal issues, we have to examine and accept that these issues affect the broader society. Domestic abuse does not only affect individuals and families, it has a far-reaching effect on our entire society. For example, it lowers productivity at work thus lowering our national revenue figures, causes children to become disruptive in the school environment thus affecting all of our children's ability to concentrate on learning, and increases strain on public resources such as the law enforcement, health and judicial systems. Low self-esteem in women is a strong the root in the tree that bears the fruits of teenage pregnancy, abusive relationships, and sexually transmitted infections such as HIV/AIDS. Again self-esteem is very much a personal and internal subject, yet from a holistic gender perspective we realize that society plays a very unconscious yet powerful role in how females view and value themselves as girls and women.

The Women's Resource Centre will continue to advocate and expand the types of services offered to assist women with the challenges that they experience in life. However at the same time, we hope that future development will continue to occur in the area of gender affairs such as the Government's acceptance and implementation of the National Policy on Gender Equity and Equality, which will assist not only women but also men in their development. We realize that in order to address the many issues hampering the development of women in society, they must be examined from a gender and development approach that looks at the societal construction of relationships and power dynamics between men and women. With the gender approach, not only is there opportunity to raise the status of women in society but also to address the discriminations that occur against men based on their sex, like child custody matters for example.

Addressing the practical gender needs of women does not necessarily change their status in society, however addressing societal problems with a gender and development focus at a national level will assist in achieving equality between the sexes. Hence, the name shift from Women's Affairs to Gender Affairs that occurred in 2003 at the Ministerial level indicates a higher national level of gender awareness and is a step in the right direction down the path of gender development. Gender development is not solely a women's issue-it is a man's issue, a boy's issue, a girl's issue- further more it is a human development goal that we as a society have the power to create and shape as we desire. We are all equally a part of the solution towards gender equity and equality- individuals, government, and non-government alike. As we join other countries around the world embarking on this uncertain journey called gender development, the Women's Resource Centre's message is that we are a dedicated traveller on this path that is willing to work with all participants to create a better society for all in the Cayman Islands.

Endnotes

1 Official Records of Private Member's Motion No. 1/95, Establishment of the Office For Women's Affairs, p. 16.

2 Ibid., page 11.

3 Ibid., pp. 11-12.

4 Report on The Establishment of the Office of Women's Affairs Cayman Islands, Magda Pollard, 1996, p. 24.

5 Ibid., p. 24.

6 Final Draft of Cayman Islands National Policy on Gender Equity and Equality, 2003, p. 9.

7 Final Draft of Cayman Islands National Policy on Gender Equity and Equality, 2003, p. 79.

8 Ibid., p. 80.

9 Caribbean Training Manual on Domestic Violence Intervention for Police Officers and Other Front Line Professionals, 2000, p. 16.

10 Ibid., p. 30.

11 Interview with Cindy Blekaitis, Women's Resource Centre Counsellor, April 2004.

12 "What Self-Esteem Is and Is Not", Nathaniel Branden, Ph.D. Copyright © 1997.

13 "What Self-Esteem Is and Is Not", Nathaniel Branden, Ph.D. Copyright © 1997.

14 Caribbean Training Manual on Domestic Violence Intervention for Police Officers and Other Front Line Professionals, 2000, p. 34.

15 Final Draft of Cayman Islands National Policy on Gender Equity and Equality, 2003, p. 15.

16 Ibid., p. 55.

17 Official Records of Private Member's Motion No. 1/95, Establishment of the Office For Women's Affairs, p. 11.

18Source: www.empowered.org.

References

Caribbean Training Manual on Domestic Violence Intervention for Police Officers and Other Front Line Professionals, Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action (CAFRA). 2000.

Final Draft of the Cayman Islands National Policy on Gender Equity and Equality, Cayman Islands Government's Ministry of Community Services, Youth, Sports and Gender Affairs. 2003.

Interview with Cindy Blekaitis, Women's Resource Centre Counsellor, April 2004.

Official Records of Private Member's Motion No1/95, Establishment of the Office for Women's Affairs, 1995.

Pollard, Magda, Consultant's Report on the Establishment of the Office of Women's Affairs, Cayman Islands Government. 1996.

"Resources for Women", Caymanian Compass Editorial, 30th March 2004.

The Empower Programme. www.empowered.org.

"What Self-Esteem Is and Is Not", Nathaniel Branden, Ph.D., 1997.

UNFPA (United Nations Populations Fund) "Education Is Power" Poster

© Tammy Ebanks Bishop, 2004.

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