Violence a threat to gender equality

Violence against women and girls is among the threats to successful gender equality in Barbados and the Caribbean.
Other challenges include inadequate access to reproductive health care and over-representation of women in poverty in some countries.
These areas were pinpointed by Minister of Social Care, Constituency Empowerment and Community Development Steve Blackett as he delivered remarks during the opening ceremony of the two-day Caribbean Forum On Gender Equality And The Post-2015 Agenda, hosted by the UNDP Barbados and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) at Hilton Barbados.
The forum, which is being attended by representatives from Caribbean countries, will seek to foster a common understanding of the global, regional and national discussions on the post-2015 agenda, and it is expected that the Caribbean Forum will assist in developing a common Caribbean statement and advocacy strategy in order to ensure that gender equality issues are fully addressed in the post-2015 framework. (AH)