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'' 'CUBANS' PAINFUL CRAVES' ''
HAVANA: I WAS SIX WHEN I saw my mother sitting on a stretcher at a psychiatric hospital in Cienfuegos, half naked with a blank stare.
She was bent over, her hands groping the ground, when a male nurse, humming a popular song, grabbed her hair and forced her to throw up into a bucket, which he then emptied into the toilet.
The image, buried in my memories since the 1970s, resurfaced decades later at the Havana airport. Before a departing flight, an officer in civilian clothing locked me inside a room and, with a smile asked me to get undressed.
I was ordered to squat, and my body was parted down to ensure I was not concealing contraband.
While his fingers searched me, the memory of that nurse's callous laugh and my defenseless mother came back to me like a boomerang, brightening my own sense of vulnerability.
What could I do? How and where could I file a complain? No one talks about what happens in hospitals, nursing homes, women's prisons, police stations and Cuban courts after reports of domestic violence, sexual assault or harassment are filed - and the public lacks access to any affidavits, statistics or reliable sources that would verify claims.
Cuban women most silently endure humiliation is a patriarchal, monolithic and cyclical system.
Six decades after the revolution, women still consider their rights a gift bestowed by the male led government.
Here is a list of some of the efforts that the revolutionaries made beginning in the early 1960s to incorporate ''housewives'' into socialist society : A national child care system, Circulos Infantiles, was founded.
The Facultad Obrera Compesina [F.O.C] was founded to offer women the opportunity to enroll in secondary education.
The Cuban Army made it possible for women to enlist and become military doctors or part of the artillery reserve. Prostitutes were integrated into society and given the opportunity to find jobs as taxi drivers, educators or skilled workers.
These policies were devised by government as part of the ''battle for women's liberation.''
She was bent over, her hands groping the ground, when a male nurse, humming a popular song, grabbed her hair and forced her to throw up into a bucket, which he then emptied into the toilet.
The image, buried in my memories since the 1970s, resurfaced decades later at the Havana airport. Before a departing flight, an officer in civilian clothing locked me inside a room and, with a smile asked me to get undressed.
I was ordered to squat, and my body was parted down to ensure I was not concealing contraband.
While his fingers searched me, the memory of that nurse's callous laugh and my defenseless mother came back to me like a boomerang, brightening my own sense of vulnerability.
What could I do? How and where could I file a complain? No one talks about what happens in hospitals, nursing homes, women's prisons, police stations and Cuban courts after reports of domestic violence, sexual assault or harassment are filed - and the public lacks access to any affidavits, statistics or reliable sources that would verify claims.
Cuban women most silently endure humiliation is a patriarchal, monolithic and cyclical system.
Six decades after the revolution, women still consider their rights a gift bestowed by the male led government.
Here is a list of some of the efforts that the revolutionaries made beginning in the early 1960s to incorporate ''housewives'' into socialist society : A national child care system, Circulos Infantiles, was founded.
The Facultad Obrera Compesina [F.O.C] was founded to offer women the opportunity to enroll in secondary education.
The Cuban Army made it possible for women to enlist and become military doctors or part of the artillery reserve. Prostitutes were integrated into society and given the opportunity to find jobs as taxi drivers, educators or skilled workers.
These policies were devised by government as part of the ''battle for women's liberation.''
To this day, however, most Cuban women are unaware of what their individual rights are, and few know how dangerous it is to become aware of them.
In Cuba, various forms of harassment, abuse and violence against women persist, and there are systems in place for punishing those who do not out down their heads and surrender to the reality that men are in control of their daily lives.
Throughout my life, I've seen how powerless parents are in matters regarding their own children.
Parents have no say over how their children should be raised, whether they will be conscripted or sent away to school in rural areas, and what dangers could befall them being so far from home and such a young age.
They have no say over their children's manners, religious teachings and political ideologies. There are only two choices : Run with the herd or be crushed by it.
As a teenager in the 1980s, I was taught in a ''scientific communism'' class that family was the heart of the society. But from what I could see, that was no longer the case; organizations with mass followings like the Young Communist League had taken its place.
Things do not improve after leaving school. The intrusive way in which some men treat us, no matter who is present, is plain harassment. In Cuba it is considered normal for you to be shouted at, bossed around, touched without permission, because women are seen as subordinates.
The Honor and Serving of the latest Global Operational Research on the 'State of the countries and Societies', continues. The World Students Society thanks Cuban author and Poet, Wendy Guerra.
With respectful dedication to the Grandparents, Parents, Students, Professors and Teachers of Cuba and then the world.
See Ya all on Facebook, prepare and register for Great Global Elections on The World Students Society : wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter !E-WOW! - The Ecosystem 2011:
''' Every - Equal '''
In Cuba, various forms of harassment, abuse and violence against women persist, and there are systems in place for punishing those who do not out down their heads and surrender to the reality that men are in control of their daily lives.
Throughout my life, I've seen how powerless parents are in matters regarding their own children.
Parents have no say over how their children should be raised, whether they will be conscripted or sent away to school in rural areas, and what dangers could befall them being so far from home and such a young age.
They have no say over their children's manners, religious teachings and political ideologies. There are only two choices : Run with the herd or be crushed by it.
As a teenager in the 1980s, I was taught in a ''scientific communism'' class that family was the heart of the society. But from what I could see, that was no longer the case; organizations with mass followings like the Young Communist League had taken its place.
Things do not improve after leaving school. The intrusive way in which some men treat us, no matter who is present, is plain harassment. In Cuba it is considered normal for you to be shouted at, bossed around, touched without permission, because women are seen as subordinates.
The Honor and Serving of the latest Global Operational Research on the 'State of the countries and Societies', continues. The World Students Society thanks Cuban author and Poet, Wendy Guerra.
With respectful dedication to the Grandparents, Parents, Students, Professors and Teachers of Cuba and then the world.
See Ya all on Facebook, prepare and register for Great Global Elections on The World Students Society : wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter !E-WOW! - The Ecosystem 2011:
''' Every - Equal '''
Good Night and God Bless
SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless
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