IWD 2021 #ChooseToChallenge – Part 5

Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie – Chief Medical Officer (CMO)

She needs no introduction. Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie, in her role as the leading lady of public health, evidences that the medical profession in Jamaica is one in which women can thrive.

“Women are well represented in the medical field both locally and internationally. Many women have demonstrated excellence in both population health and individual health in all fields of medicine,” she remarked.

She noted that while men still outnumber women in some medical specialities, these areas are by no means off-limits to women.

“Surgical fields, in particular, in the past, were male dominated but there have been several women who have paved the way for today’s female surgeons,” she said.

The CMO believes that while neither men or women should receive preferential treatment in the field, sex and gender, and the unique responsibilities that come with them, have to be considered.

“A woman should not feel she has to be man-like, or deny herself children or family in order to be a certain type of doctor,” she argued. “The special needs of women must be taken into consideration in order to allow them to achieve their career goals. It is a fact of life that women bear children and that is how the world continues.”

She celebrated that women currently dominate two areas of medicine in Jamaica: emergency medicine and public health.

“I believe women make strong leaders and all their experiences as girls and women make them who they are and enrich their contribution. I believe women must grasp opportunities as they arise and aim to be the best they can be despite the challenges that they face. As men or women, we all have challenges, we have no entitlements, we just have to reach for what we want and work to achieve it.”

The wife and mother of three is no stranger to the functions that women carry out in families, regardless of profession.

Bisasor-McKenzie chooses to challenge women to take opportunities in their career despite these duties.

Antoinette Aiken – Sign language interpreter

While most sign language interpreters in Jamaica are women, Antoinette Aiken is not satisfied, because there is still a significant deficit in the total number of interpreters available in Jamaica.

“There are currently three interpreters in Jamaica of high quality; two of whom are Jamaican (including myself) and one American. All three are women,” Aiken said. “The profession is basically resting on the shoulders of a few with some interpreters who are currently learning on the job.”

While she is happy that progress is being made to allow deaf women, and the wider deaf community to gain access to health, education and other social systems through communication, Aiken said it is not happening as quickly as the community would want it to.

“Often uttered amongst the corridors of the disabled community, and a term I fully agree with, is ‘Nothing about us without US.’ Jamaica has a huge enough Deaf population that should gain access to higher quality information,” she charged.

She points out that the language barrier poses a problem for all members of the deaf community — regardless of gender, age or status — they are all excluded.

“Can you imagine going to a dentist who is learning on the job? Or better yet, going to school and your teacher is learning on the job?… This is a reality of some deaf children in the classroom in Jamaica. Jamaica’s motto says, ‘Out of many, one people’,” she reminded. “I #ChoosetoChallenge this battle everyday, and work until everything is at a respectable and acceptable level for the deaf community. Ubuntu – I am because you are. I am because of my parents, and I am because of my community. So my job and time on this earth are to ensure high quality access is provided. I challenge us to make Jamaica more inclusive for everyone.”

Tricia Davies – Vice-President, Business Support, BNS

As one whose responsibilities include real estate transformation, disaster recovery and planning, and inventory and warehouse management, Tricia Davies spends most of her days around a lot of men. “I find that sometimes there is an assumption that you don’t have the capacity to understand the technicalities of a situation,” she observed from the interactions.

Despite the needless ‘man-splaining’ that she often endures due to their lack of confidence in her skills and knowledge, Davies aims to find the opportunity instead of the insult in each instance.

“I approach every interaction with an open mind and I’m not afraid of criticism and taking accountability,” she said easily. “When I interact with someone who thinks that I don’t understand, I use this as an opportunity to show my capabilities.

“This is how I #ChooseToChallenge. As long as I feel that I’m doing my best, and I am increasing my knowledge base, I’m happy.”

In addition to her responsibilities as a member of Scotia Jamaica’s senior management team, Davies values her duty as a mother.

“Outside of work, my single largest responsibility has been raising my son,” she said proudly. “My aim is to raise him to treat women with respect and equality, and to shun the stereotypes that exist about women.”

Jodi-Ann Quarrie – International human rights and environmental attorney

As one who dived head first into waters that were previously uncharted by Caribbean women in law, such as Rómulo Gallegos Fellow at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the University of Notre Dame’s masters of law in internation human rights programme, an the United Nations Fellow for People of African Descent, Quarrie has found the glaring lack of representation of Caribbean women to be an issue.

“Being the first to do these things meant that I’m moving into spaces constantly where people aren’t accustomed to people like me, and not accustomed to women like me taking up these spaces,” she said.

It’s unfortunate, she remarked, that she had to deal with gender and race discrimination, and a lack of awareness of the lived realities of Caribbean women.

“How I #ChooseToChallenge this everyday is to not only speak up in these spaces so people can become aware that Caribbean women are taking them up, but also to replicate myself — make space for more Caribbean women to come into these spaces and feel comfortable, and also make sure they don’t come and deal with the same struggles that I faced.”

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IWD 2021: 21 women #ChooseToChallenge[/naviga:h4][naviga:h4 class=”entry-title”]

IWD 2021 #Choosetochallenge – Part 2[/naviga:h4][naviga:h4 class=”entry-title”]

IWD 2021 #Choosetochallenge – Part 3[/naviga:h4][naviga:h4 class=”entry-title”]

IWD 2021 #Choosetochallenge – Part 4[/naviga:h4]