At Wednesday's consultation with religious bodies on the 2012 draft national policy on gender and development, Leela Ramdeen, chair of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice, raised a curious argument regarding the definition of gender in the document.
After acknowledging the strengths of the policy document, Ms Ramdeen described the definition of gender as "socially constructed and learned through the socialisation process" as a "slippery slope." Ms Ramdeen prefers the definition of gender offered by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which constricts the meaning of the word to two sexes, male and female.
While the ICC definition is understandably satisfactory to the Catholic Commission, it ignores the realities of modern human relations and the important inroads which have been made in expanding social tolerance for differences based on race, religion, gender and yes, sexuality, over the last fifty years.
The International Criminal Court may, at the legal level that it operates, find it best to define gender in such specific terms, but as a nation, we must consider the role that this gender policy document will play in defining roles and responsibilities for the families of the future.
Such faith-based concerns have dogged the gender policy document for some time, and it's critical, through these final consultations with stakeholders and the public, for the government to make clear what's in the document and what's not.Clearly aligning the laws of this country with modern reality will take time and patience, but the painless measures currently outlined in the gender policy document are long overdue for enactment as formal law.
Hazel Brown, coordinator of the NGO's for the Advancement of Women, stoutly defended the existing wording, arguing that it was necessary to acknowledge social roles as well as the sexes in creating a workable policy document.
The issues that the National Gender Policy are designed to address are crucial to defining equality under the law. Issues such as discrimination and a clear definition of crimes of domestic violence demand the clarifications that this document promises, and discussions about the draft at this stage should be focused on ensuring that it does as much as possible while acknowledging the levels of social adjustment that are possible at this stage of the country's development.
Arguments about the specific meaning of gender, as deeply felt and considered as they may be from a religious perspective, should acknowledge that the requirements of law and the responsibilities of the state remain both different and separate from those of the church.
The current definition of gender in the draft gender policy document is suitably inclusive without promoting any startlingly modern agendas. It's as sanitised as any definition can be that must govern laws that will apply equally to the faithful and the impious.
These discussions, which usefully air such concerns for clarification among all stakeholders, move the gender policy draft closer to implementation and Gender Minister Marlene Coudray is to be lauded on pushing forward with these concluding consultations.The implementation of the policy, which provides the foundation for addressing significant and pressing issues related to gender equality, is long overdue.