The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

IN the wake of a single mother reportedly being beaten to death, Women United Northern Bahamas has asked for individuals to petition their politicians and policy makers to demand stiffer penalties and legislation to protect women and girls.

According to police, they were called to a home in Crown Haven, Abaco after 1pm on Saturday, December 26, where they found a woman’s lifeless body. Police said additional inquiries revealed that the woman “had an altercation with a male earlier that day” and was later found lifeless at her home with “injuries to the face”.

A relative identified the victim as 36-year-old mother of seven, Angeleta Pritchard. She was said to have been killed in front of her young child at her home.

In a statement, WUNB extended heartfelt condolences to the mother’s children and loved ones. The organisation called the incident a “brutal and inhumane murder” and asked that her name be said so she is never forgotten.

“When we are discussing the rights of women and girls, there is none more basic than the mere right to life,” the group said in a statement. “The right to have an existence free from fear, free from violence, the simple right to exist as a human being. This right was violently and horrifically taken from Angeleta Pritchard who was bludgeoned to death, as her child was forced to bear witness to this terror. . .

“We will not refer to her as ‘victim’ or other neutralising terms that strips her of her humanity. We will acknowledge her by her name, Angeleta Pritchard, because she deserves in death that which she was devastatingly denied in life, respect. We cannot continue to normalise the gender-based violence in our society by the use of desensitising vernacular and gentile descriptions. We cannot be polite when we continue to lose our women and girls to aggressors who objectify them and society who has failed to protect them.”

The group said losing women and girls to gender-based violence creates “a tear in the fabric of our society and erodes the foundation of our community”. Thus WUNB argued “we cannot afford to continue to categorise these attacks as private matters because this is a systemic problem that affects us all.”

The statement added: “We are asking you to say her name, Angeleta Pritchard, so she is never forgotten and the work that must take place, to right these tragic wrongs, is never forgotten. As long as women and girls anywhere are not safe, then women and girls everywhere are not safe. We challenge you to stand with us.

“We implore you to take your social media, your schools and churches, your organisations and places of business, and let out a public outcry that will shatter the status quo and force the change that we need. Petition your politicians and policy makers and demand stiffer penalties and legislation that will become a deterrent and will protect our women and girls.

“But we cannot stop there, legislative change is not enough. We need a safe haven for our women and girls, where they can be free to enjoy the basic right to life that so many take for granted. We need shelters to be developed in Abaco and Grand Bahama, furnished with counselling and life support services to these women and girls to have a chance. We are calling for sensitivity and diversity training for the police force so officers are properly equipped to detect and handle cases of gender-based abuse.”

Earlier this week, police said a man is in custody assisting with the investigation. A relative told The Tribune she suspects Ms Pritchard was attacked by a spurned partner who could not handle rejection.

Earlier this month, a grandmother was killed in her home and her daughter was also attacked during a domestic dispute involving a male relative, police said.

And in September, a mother and her eight-year-old daughter were found slain at their Nassau Village home. At the time, police said they suspected the double killing came after a domestic dispute.

If you or someone you know is a victim of gender-based violence, contact the Bahamas Crisis Centre hotline at (242) 328-0922.