Information is at our fingertips at any time of the day, as long as we have access to an internet connection and an internet-enabled device. There is, therefore, no reason for people to publicly discuss issues without getting the information necessary to participate in an educated, productive manner. The other option—which goes without consideration far too often—is to refrain from engaging in public discussion beyond one’s depth as though one is an authority or has more to impart than to learn from others.

It is acceptable to participate in a conversation as a non-expert, as a curious person, and as a person who has more questions than answers, making that fact clear. Ask questions to gain more information. Ask to be excused from answering questions outside of the current scope of knowledge. Do not pretend to know, only to spew ignorance. There is a cost attached to people of influence presenting opinions and random half-thoughts as facts, and that cost affects people with far less power and influence. It is irresponsible to speak with authority without the requisite information.

Every thought does not need to be shared, and every question does not need to be answered with certainty where there is none. One must have a position on an issue before stating it, and having a position requires knowledge and understanding. That a question is posed does not mean an answer is ready, and it is no evidence of masculinity to rush to speak only to utter nonsense. This, however, does not mean that people in positions of power should be excused for not having considered topical issues and areas of concern. It means that study is required

Politicians and decision-makers need to do more than talk for the sake of talking. They need to do more than push papers. They need to listen to experts. They need to engage with stakeholders. They need to identify their own biases. They need to consider national law and policy and the impact on the people. They need to understand international law. They need to acknowledge their obligations, as duty-bearers, to the people, as rights-holders. They need to be prepared to go against popular opinion when lives and quality of life are at stake. They need to prioritise human rights and centre people in situations of vulnerability. They need to do what they ought, without delay, without reservation, and with conviction. They need to stop being cowards.

An apparent trend, now making headlines in The Bahamas, is the casting of blame on women for the lack of action—which must be taken by politicians and policymakers—on women’s rights and gender equality.

“They haven’t lobbied long enough!”

“They haven’t asked nicely!”

“They haven’t been loud enough!”

The detractors pretend that they have forgotten about various actions, from marches and protests to email exchanges and statements in multilateral spaces. They put significant effort into finding ways to minimize the work undertaken by women’s rights organisations and women’s rights advocates, going so far as to lie about the activity taking place at the national, regional, and international levels. They conveniently ignore their own weakness and fear, in combination with misogyny and lack of care for the wellbeing of people, which leads to their blatant and repeated refusal to do what is required of them. They, wearing titles they never want to live without, knowingly dupe the public into believing anything they say, fully expecting their positions to be more important than their (in)competence.

Detractors try to convince the public that they might be supportive of women’s rights, if only women and women’s rights organisations chose more palatable issues to raise and rights to demand.

“They haven’t focused on the issues I think are the most important!”

“They haven’t focused on the most convenient and popular issues!”

“They haven’t convinced enough people who hate them to vote for me, even if I support them with action.”

The politicians who refuse to respond to the question on their failure to act, instead pointing at the people who are pressuring them to act, are liars. They do not support woman. They do not want to see women have full access to all of our human rights. They are terrified that women, with full access to human rights, might enact the same violence and discrimination they have experienced on the men who have been brutish in their exercise of power and/or benefitted from the gender inequality caused by violent men. They are afraid of being at risk. They know that they are guilty of fully activated misogyny and violence at the structural and/or interpersonal levels. They do not want to suffer what they have caused women to suffer, and they are worried that women might have the capacity to be as hateful and vindictive as they have been allowed by the unearned power concentrated in them. That fear may be deserved, just as the future they imagine may be deserved, but it is not an excuse for continuing the structural violence that is gender inequality.

Politicians would have us believe that we, women and women’s rights advocates, are responsible for creating change by pressuring them to do their jobs. They want us to believe that we do not have full access to our rights because we have not worked hard enough for them rather than facing the fact that politicians have no vested interest in improving the lives of women or fulfilling the obligations that the government has as a democratic government and one that voluntarily participates in international human rights mechanisms including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

We are not supposed to have to fight for our rights. Human rights are not a reward for persistence, longevity, doggedness, strategy, resilience, or acquiring positions of power. Human rights are inherent. They are not “granted” or “gifted” by a government. We have them because we are human. Human rights are inalienable. They cannot be taken away, regardless of identity markers. Human rights are universal. They apply to everyone, without exception. Human rights are indivisible. They are all equally important. Human rights are interdependent. They all rely on each other to be fully enjoyed. Human rights exist, whether or not they are convenient to colonisers and oppressors, which governments often are by their own insistence. It is the duty of governments to ensure that all people have full access to and the ability the enjoy all of our human rights.

That women are responsible for finding the “right” way to pressure the government to guarantee full access to human rights is a dangerous falsehood that has now been implied by a Press Secretary and stated by a former prime minister.

Perhaps more troubling is the argument that women are educated beyond the point of comfort for men, and this is a motivation for men in decision-making positions to prevent the advancement of women. This has finally been stated, just last week by a former prime minister, as an excuse for men in political leadership refusing to guarantee access to human rights and refusing to create an environment within which women have equal access to opportunity with equal outcomes. This is goes beyond the red herring that men often bring up when the topic of women’s rights is raised. “What about the boys?” “The boys in trouble now.” Addressing issues affecting men and boys—which include and are connected to gender inequality and toxic masculinity—is necessary, and does not serve as a counterpoint to the need to address issues affecting women and girls, especially those stemming from gender inequality in the law. The fear of women’s success and safety is one of the best pieces of evidence that men in positions of power are well aware of their privilege and their violence against women that extends beyond physical acts.

Men are afraid of losing their dominance. Men are afraid of losing the ability to enact violence with impunity. Men are afraid of experiencing the violence and discrimination that women experience every day. Men are afraid of the day that they do not strike fear in women just because they are men. Men are afraid of having the experiences of women. Men—particularly those in positions of power—are afraid of everyone finally seeing that male privilege and the threat that they will enact violence that accompanies them throughout their lives is the way they gain (what they consider to be) respect and leadership, and this is what they allow to keep them from taking action to move toward gender inequality. Women are not and have never been the problem. It is men who have nothing but the privilege of not being women.