Members of the NYVC (source NYVC)

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The National Youth Volunteer Corps (NYVC) this week condemned gender-based violence (GBV) with a statement from its President saying GBV “has no place in our communities”.

The youth-led organisation is mobilising its members to participate in the upcoming national GBV awareness and advocacy walk organised for March 8th, International Women’s Day. The event, dubbed Men & Women United 2025: Stop Gender Based Violence, is a 5k walk starting at 2:00 pm from the Botanical Gardens.

“We believe that every voice matters, and that young people must take an active role in shaping a safer and more just society. By joining this walk, we believe that we are sending a powerful message. Together, we can break the cycle, inspire change, and create a future where respect and equality are the norms. Our presence at this walk is more than symbolic. It is a commitment to action,” NYVC President Jahmaal Frederick said.

On its official Facebook page, the NYVC says its mission is to “empower Antigua and Barbuda’s youth through meaningful community service” by connecting “passionate young leaders with impactful projects” and “fostering positive change while developing tomorrow’s changemakers”.

It is one of the many youth and service organisations that have come on board with the upcoming awareness and advocacy walk, according to the event organisers, the Integrated Health Outreach Gender Based Violence Coalition (IHO-GBV).

IHO-GBV is an arm of the nonprofit organisation Integrated Health Outreach (IHO), which is partnering with the Directorate of Gender Affairs (DoGA) to execute the event. Executive Director of IHO, Dr. Nicola Bird, says it is heartening to see the interest demonstrated by young people on the issue of gender-based violence which IHO has said is too often ignored and which society is not doing as much as it can to address effectively.

“The message from the youth volunteer corps is one we endorse — you cannot have meaningful change unless all voices are heard and all voices get involved, and the voices of young people are critical to ensuring that there is a real and consistent generational shift to full equality for women and girls and an end to the harmful attitudes that perpetuate violence,” Dr. Bird said.

She drew attention to GBV being a global problem, pointing to information gathered by UN Women. UN Women has stated, “The most common form of violence experienced by women globally is physical violence inflicted by an intimate partner,” and has also said that around the world, “At least one in three women is beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused by an intimate partner in the course of her lifetime.”

In the Caribbean, it has been found that the rates of such violence tend to be higher than the global average.

Dr. Bird said, “We have a serious problem in the Caribbean. We are talking about the high incidence of rape and sexual violence, so much of which goes unreported. We are talking about the culture of preying on minors and grooming them, especially girls.

We are talking about the sexual harassment which is so normalised in our everyday lives and the sense of safety women and girls often lack when in public spaces.

“We’re talking about violence in relationships. Women are disproportionately the victims of intimate partner violence — physical, sexual, emotional, and economic. And then there’s the abhorrent practice of victim blaming. That in itself is another form of violence. We have so much work to do. And building awareness is a major part of that. That’s why we want everyone out on March 8th.”

Anyone can register for the walk here: https://qrco.de/bfg85S.

The Men & Women United 2025: Stop Gender Based Violence Walk is a project implemented by IHO in partnership with the DoGA and supported by the Equality Fund and Global Affairs Canada.