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Man kills self after chopping woman

Victim warded in serious condition

Published: Thursday, December 10, 2015 

​ An Arima street vendor who had threatened to kill his estranged lover and then himself, committed suicide on Tuesday after chopping the woman, who survived the attack. The incident took place around 8 pm, police said, after the man, Narine Singh, of Matura, attacked Marilyn Gallan, 56, as she walked along Pro Queen Street in the heart of the eastern borough, metres away from the police station.

Police said after chopping the woman Singh ran west along Farfan Street and collapsed on Woodford Street where he died. Police said the woman was chopped four times and remains warded in a serious condition at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex.

An employee of Circle Square Recreational Pub, where Singh was once employed, said yesterday Singh had threatened to kill the woman and then himself in the past. She said the man, who she described as “jolly and a little ignorant,” had a temper, was warned against such violent threats and would calm down. She said on two previous occasions Singh attempted to take his life, once by ingesting poison and another by jumping off a building.

Another employee said Singh met Gallan at the bar and the two began a relationship which lasted two years. “We talk to him about it, other people talk to him but we didn’t think he would do it but it wasn’t a surprise per se,” the woman interrupted, adding that the couple had broken up about two months ago. She said Gallan, who is married, ended the relationship because of Singh’s erratic behaviour.
Another street vendor, who asked not to be identified, said after seeing Singh chop Gallan he and other men chased after him. While running behind Singh they saw him pelt away the cutlass. When he was confronted the men began beating Singh who denied chopping the woman. During that struggle, police said, Singh drank poison and collapsed.

“He was just walking down the road with his bag and then start to pelt chop. It’s when we see it we intervene. I used to see them talking normal,” the vendor said. A passerby who saw a stack of cash in Singh’s pocket took it and left, one eyewitness said.

Other street vendors said Singh was gambling earlier in the day and believed he had the entire attack planned. The chopping took place just outside a shoe shop as Gallan made her way to the San Rafael taxi stand on her way home.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2015-12-10/man-kills-self-after-chopping-woman

Chopped woman warded at Hospital

By Darcel Choy Thursday, December 10 2015

BELIEVING her to be dead, after he chopped her repeatedly, Narine Singh drank a poisonous substance, collapsed on the pavement near Woodford Street in Arima and died on Tuesday night. His victim, Marilyn Gallan, 56, survived his assault and remains warded in serious but stable condition at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EWMSC) in Mt Hope.

According to police reports, Gallan of San Rafael was walking along Farfan Street in Arima at about 7.30 pm when Singh ran up to her with a cutlass in hand and chopped her four times. As she fell to the ground, her blood staining the road, Singh threw away the cutlass and walked away while drinking a poisonous substance from a bottle. A few minutes later, he collapsed near a bakery on Woodford Street and died.

Gallan was taken to the Arima Health Facility and later transferred to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope, where she underwent emergency surgery and is now warded. Newsday visited the area where the incident occurred and spoke to several people who said they were not surprised by what happened as Singh had expressed his intentions to kill Gallan and himself before.

One woman who did not want to give her name disclosed that Singh and Gallan were in a relationship but Gallan ended it after a “violent incident” occurred two months ago. The woman said Singh begged Gallan to resume the relationship promising he would behave himself. But she refused and that upset him a great deal.

She said when Singh expressed his intention to commit murder and then take his own life, many people tried to talk him out of it.

She said she did not know him very well but from seeing him around he appeared to be a “jolly” person. Singh who was originally from Matura was a costume jewelry vendor along Queen Street, Arima. One man, who claimed he witnessed the entire incident, said that after Singh attacked Gallan, he (the eyewitness) and a few other men chased and hit him some lashes.

“But he was done drinking something from a Hennessy bottle.

I told the fellars not to hit him again. Let the police reach and take him to the station. But then he started to froth from the mouth.

“I told them whatever he take there it look like is poison. So we called the police. I don’t know why he do that. He kill himself over a woman? Steups. Boy, I would have moved on...go in my bed and let natural causes take me,” the man said.

One man who knew Singh very well disclosed that he attempted suicide two times before. “He jumped off a building the first time and survived and the second time, he drank poison.

“This time he succeded though,” the man said. Arima Mayor George Hadeed, who yesterday was speaking to businessmen near to where the incident occurred expressed concern about what happened, noting that it was only on Saturday, the Arima Borough Corporation held a domestic violence event in Arima.


Source: http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,221073.html

Looking for a Cure to Violence

Published on Nov 30, 2015, 6:50 pm AST

School fights, child abuse, domestic violence and police brutality dominate the news. They are often viewed as discrete issues demanding separate solutions, when they are instead common threads weaving into the fabric that is our culture of violence.

As a teenager, I considered the border between corporal punishment and child abuse as shaped by ensuring the child also understood you loved him/her; understood “licks” was a form of discipline; was never beaten in anger; and was never hurt “too much”. While these parameters may make sense to a society fully sold into the licks doctrine, they are not firmly enshrined in law.

The Children's Act affirms the legality of “reasonable” corporal punishment without distinguishing it from “assault”.

With the line between “just enough licks” and “too much” still legally blurry, ask yourself – if every time you beat your child were filmed, would you be exonerated in the court of public opinion or otherwise?

Some look to escalating school violence and call the removal of corporal punishment as its cause. I'm not so sure.

School violence always existed; social media has simply made it more visible. Any increase may be more appropriately ascribed to students acclimatising to increasing violence in the wider society, as evidenced by soaring crime.

I further suggest children who fight in schools fight not because teachers can't beat them, but because parents already do.

Homes where licks is the main form of discipline will not automatically produce violent individuals, but it may shape minds which see violence as an important component of solutions to problems.
Some percentage of homes will always be “broken”, add licks to mix and society will invariably produce more violent individuals.

So, when confronted by problems, how else could students respond but with fists and feet? And then, if a man can beat his child, why can't he beat his wife? And if he can beat a small, defenceless person, surely a policeman can beat a suspected criminal.

Some policemen, incapable of proper investigative work, attempt to beat suspects into confession. This perfectly encapsulates our problem.

There are ways to deal with undisciplined children other than beatings, but much like some policemen, we don't know how to effect the alternatives, so we default to the method we know.
Our thinking must shift from punitive to rehabilitative. Punishment forces us do right using fear of the physical, mental or financial pain associated with getting caught. Rehabilitation imparts the understanding of why doing right is better and, importantly, provide tools to make that choice easier.
I am not saying punishment has no place in society – only that its place in ours is far too significant, and that the violent component of punishment is central when it should be marginal.
I am also not trying to take your belt away – only asking that you properly consider other options before resorting to it.

Discipline without licks will require more time, effort and creativity, but there are many books and websites dedicated to such – educate yourself. More knowledge is always better than less.
Some rail against this thinking, but the evidence in progressive countries supports me. Some say our culture is different, but do we know this to be a fact?

Did licks instil the discipline apparent in our most successful and least violent citizens? I believe licks more likely shaped our prison population, but absent the research, my proposition is as good as yours.
Still, I agree that our culture is “different”. It is mired in violence. It is flawed. It needs an overhaul. Because violence among and against children, by domestic partners and police will not be solved by what our culture dictates – more violence.

Taryn Salazar

Source: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20151130/letters/looking-for-a-cure-to-violence

6,200 Calls to Domestic Violence Hotline

By Darcel Choy Thursday, November 26 2015

IN THE last five years, from October, 2010 to September, 2015, the National Domestic Violence Hotline received 6,200 calls. Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister (Gender and Child Affairs) Ayanna Webster-Roy revealed the figures yesterday at the official launch of the Information Fairs/Exhibitions in commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

The exhibition took place on the Brian Lara Promenade, Port-of-Spain.

She also disclosed for the period October, 2014 to September, 2015, the Hotline reported 965 client calls during which 86.8 percent of that came from women. She said the figures showed those persons who were brave enough to make the call, and reach out for help.

“Consider for a moment the thousands who do not yet have that courage. It is for those persons that our public education and service delivery efforts must never cease. This includes the establishment and enforcement of appropriate legislation facilitation of easy access to all supportive services, and empowerment of our people,” she said. Webster-Roy said the government will be the fiercest proponents of greater empowerment of women. She said their efforts include advocacy, gender mainstreaming and training in gender mainstreaming, and training in gender-responsive budgeting across the Government Ministries. Also, the provision of skills training for women to increase their marketability within male-dominated fields.

The National Commission for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, or the National Women Commission will be established, and the Women’s City Centre Project will be implemented in South and North Trinidad.

We will also increase the number of safe houses, shelters and transition homes for victims/survivors using various initiatives with appropriate standards, and guidelines to monitor and evaluate their operations,” she said.

The minister said government will also incorporate gender perspectives in all activities of government and civil society, starting with the collection and collation of sex-disaggregated data, and conduction of gender aware research.

“We will facilitate the full and equal participation of men and women in the development process of policies and governance in consideration of the different needs, constraints, opportunities and priorities of men and women,” she said. She added that future consultations will be held on the National Policy on Gender and Development.

Webster-Roy said citizens must work together to ensure that there are no more murder-suicides, “no more broken marriages because of broken bones, no more hidden bruises and hidden shames.

We have to encourage our family members, our friends, our co-workers to be willing to step up and report violations taking place.”

Source:http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,220435.html

On Eliminating Violence Against Women

By Barbara L. Shaw

11/23/2015 06:34 pm ET | Updated Nov 23, 2015 

 

In a world where violence drives nearly every headline, fear and insecurity invades millions of women’s lives daily, quietly, and intimately.

November 25, 2015 is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. While raising awareness is an important first step to change, short-term campaign efforts and law-and-order approaches will not stop the pandemic of violence.

What is needed is a global health response within a social justice approach.

Nearly 22 years after the UN General Assembly passed the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women and with the United States still not signing the International Violence Against Women Act, the United Nation’s World’s Women 2015 Report crystalizes the need for direct action.

While it celebrates women’s ability to live longer, healthier lives and receive an education, facts about violence darken these advances. The World Health Organization declares 30 percent of women in a relationship experience physical or sexual violence, 35 percent experience intimate partner violence, and UN Women reports almost half the women killed worldwide died at the hands of an intimate partner or family member. With little data on psychological violence, researchers know that 43 percent of women in 28 EU member states report experiencing it. And in the United States, 1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men will be raped in their lifetimes. In 2015 alone (as of November 17), 21 transgender women, many of them women of color, have been murdered.

Laws and international declarations are necessary to provide resources to communities, but this political process will not be the mechanism to address, prevent, and eliminate violence, especially in the lives of women of color, and people in the LGBTQAI+ community. Laws are safety nets that sometimes lead to individual punishment but will not produce cultural change. More often than not, court systems further victimize survivors.

And what happens when sexual violence is embedded within racial violence of police brutality?

In the wake of former Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw being charged with raping and sexually assaulting 13 black women he specifically targeted because he knew they were vulnerable within the U.S. judicial system, a recent investigation makes clear that “sexual misconduct is among the most prevalent type of complaint against law enforcement in the United States.”

A concurrent AP report further reveals that approximately 1,000 officers were fired over a five-year period for sexual assault, sex crimes, and sexual coercion. And this is the tip of the iceberg since “only 25 states require a police department to tell the state board anytime an officer is fired for misconduct.”

Reporting is a grueling and potentially dangerous process for any woman who has experienced violence. It is life threatening for women of color LGBTQAI+ communities. As Kimberlé Crenshaw, Distinguished Professor of Law at UCLA and Columbia University, and Andrea Richie, a New York police misconduct attorney and organizer, note in their Say Her Name Brief, it is “rarely foregrounded in popular understanding of police brutality” but happens with too-much intended frequency.

With a backlog of rape kits, police violence, protective silences within communities of color and LGBTQ communities, as well as the knowledge that the victim/survivor will be the one on trial, why would any woman depend on the criminal justice system?

Certainly, there are good law-and-order professionals who care about their communities and work effectively within the law. We need to hear those stories to help build trust, but buttressing laws and reporting structures will not address, prevent, or eliminate violence.

Trinidad offers a poignant example. The country’s comparatively progressive Domestic Violence Acts (1991 and 1999) established clear definitions of violence and its punishment. When the law went into effect the number of women reporting to the police increased. By 2005, the Trinidad & Tobago Coalition against Domestic Violence found that 75.5 percent of the cases were dismissed and only 21.9 percent resulted in protective orders. Eventually, as anthropologist Mindie Lazarus-Black found in her research, complainants all-but-disappeared because new laws “did not interrogate the hegemonic categories of “family,” “gender,” and “work” nor could they provide a new sense of agency for women within structures that value “cultures of reconciliation” over legal punishment (Lazarus-Black, 2008: 27).

Real change will demand (1) a shift in public consciousness so that the unthinkable is no longer acceptable behavior and (2) addressing sexual violence as an urgent global health issue that is framed by complex and simultaneous relations of power (gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, social class, religion, colonialism, and nationality) embedded in social institutions ranging from the family to sports to religion.

We must push beyond a call for universal rights and one-size-fits-all awareness and education campaigns. Women of color and queer communities are further silenced when their experiences are not reflected in such broad approaches.

It will take individuals, communities, and nations to listen to people affected directly by sexual violence so that effective pathways can be established for making change. It requires all of us to stop protecting perpetrators (men, women, straight, and queer) of violence, stop shying away from the discomfort such conversations seem to invite, and speak out against violence, not just on November 25 or when photos emerge. Eliminating violence requires acting on it as a pandemic of our own making that that we have the power to unravel through socialization and education, so long as we have the collective will to see its deep roots.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-l-shaw/on-eliminating-violence-a_b_8629988.html?

  

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The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

September 30, 2015

Presidential Proclamation -- National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, 2015

NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH, 2015

- - - - - - -

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

Domestic violence impacts women, men, and children of every age, background, and belief. Nearly 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men in the United States have suffered severe physical violence by an intimate partner. Victims are deprived of their autonomy, liberty, and security, and face tremendous threats to their health and safety. During National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we reaffirm our dedication to forging an America where no one suffers the hurt and hardship that domestic violence causes -- and we recommit to doing everything in our power to uphold the basic human right to be free from violence and abuse.
While physical marks may often be the most obvious signs of the harm caused by domestic violence, the true extent of the pain goes much deeper. Victims not only face abuse, but often find themselves left with significant financial insecurity. And children who witness domestic violence often experience lifelong trauma. These heinous acts go against all we know to be humane and decent, and they insult our most fundamental ideals. We all have a responsibility to try to end this grave problem.
Prior to the passage of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), many did not view domestic violence as a serious offense, and victims often had nowhere to turn for support. VAWA significantly transformed our Nation -- it enhanced the criminal justice response to violence against women and expanded survivors' access to immediate assistance and long-term resources to rebuild their lives. The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act is another important piece of legislation that improved our public health response to domestic violence and increased the availability of critical services for victims.
My Administration has worked hard to build on the progress of the past several decades and improve domestic violence prevention and response efforts. We have extended protections and prevention measures to more victims, including in Native American and immigrant communities, and worked to break down barriers for more people seeking help. And the reauthorization of VAWA I signed in 2013 prohibits -- for the first time -- discrimination based on sexual orientation and identity when providing services. Additionally, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, most health plans must now cover preventive services, including screening and counseling for domestic violence, at no additional cost. My Administration has also sought to secure greater workplace protections by requiring Federal agencies to develop policies that address the effects of domestic violence and to provide assistance to employees experiencing it. And I recently signed an Executive Order to establish paid sick leave for Federal contractors, which enables them to use it for absences resulting from domestic violence.
Though we have made great progress in bringing awareness to and providing protections against domestic violence, much work remains to be done. In that spirit, Vice President Joe Biden launched our 1is2many initiative, which aims to raise awareness of dating violence and reduce sexual assault among students, teens, and young adults. And earlier this year, we reaffirmed our Nation's commitment to addressing domestic violence at all stages of life by holding the White House Conference on Aging, which addressed elder abuse as a public health problem that affects millions of older Americans. These initiatives will help advance our efforts to ensure no person is robbed of the chance to live out their greatest aspirations.
Safeguarding and opening doors of opportunity for every American will remain a driving focus for our country -- and we know that crimes like domestic violence inhibit our Nation from reaching its fullest potential. This month, let us once again pledge our unwavering support to those in need and recognize the advocates, victim service providers, and organizations who work tirelessly to extend hope and healing to survivors and victims every day. I encourage all people in need of assistance to call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE or visit www.TheHotline.org.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim October 2015 as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. I call on all Americans to speak out against domestic violence and support local efforts to assist victims of these crimes in finding the help and healing they need.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirtieth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand fifteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fortieth.
BARACK OBAMA

Age of sexual consent raised to 18

 

• Published on Sep 13, 2015, 9:02 pm AST 
• By Alexander Bruzual 

AS of May 18 this year, the age of consent for sexual intercourse in Trinidad and Tobago is now 18.

The Children’s Act of 2012 was proclaimed on May 18 and, in this legislation, the definition of “child” is now “a person under the age of 18 years”.

Prior to May 18, a child was defined as persons under the age of 16 years and the Sexual Offences Act listed various offences for engaging in activities with persons under 16.

However, with the passing of the new legislation, certain sections of the Sexual Offences Act have been repealed, broadening the parameters under which persons can be charged.

During a recent interview with the Express, Christal Chapman, one of the senior legal associates of the Children’s Authority (The Authority) explained the basic provisions of the new Act and how it affects citizens of this country.

“The Children’s Act of 2012 (the Act), came into force on May 18 and when it did, it repealed the previous Children’s Act, as well as certain sections in the Sexual Offences Act. Now what this Act does is it deals with child victims and child offenders and looks at treatment of children and the human rights benefits which should be accorded to them,” said Chapman.

“Now the Act also seeks to put into effect certain obligations which are listed into convention regarding the rights of the child. That convention would have established international standards for treatment of children and Trinidad and Tobago would have ratified to those standards in the early 90s. So in layman’s terms, the Act is putting into effect what we agreed to in this convention,” she explained.

Chapman noted that one of the key changes was increasing the age of the definition of a child because this would have been one of the international standards that this country agreed to.

“Now, prior to this Act, take for instance persons who would be engaging in sexual intercourse, there would have been an offence committed if these persons were under 16. The Sexual Offences Act would have gone on to further specify offences for sex with a female under 14 and then sex with a female who is 14 but not yet 16, and so forth.

“All of that is done away with as of May 18. With the Act, the implications are also not just for giving consent for sex and so forth, but even persons to be charged for offences, and even reporting on children. Let us take for instance something like, previously if you were to commit a sexual assault on someone who is 17 years of age, it would not be considered an offence against a child. With the new Act, you open up the pool of persons who are considered children, and when offences are committed against a child. You have opened up that catchment area,” said Chapman.

New offences

The senior advocate also noted that the Act dealt with a new series of offences, including genital mutilation.

“That offence, for instance, did not exist in our law books before. Some people ask why we have it there in law, when it is not something normally found locally, but the fact is globalisation is a prevalent thing and people do move around quite easily. So the thinking was that the law should be prepared for situations which can arise, such as should a person from another country where this is part of their culture, for instance,” Chapman said.

The attorney also explained that the offences of sex with a female, under the various categories, were now replaced by an offence known as sexual penetration of a child.
The Children’s Act states that penetration of a child includes: (a) the insertion of any body part or any object into a child’s bodily orifice; or (b) the insertion of a part of a child’s body into a person’s bodily orifice, and “penetrates” in relation to a child, shall be construed accordingly; “penis” includes scrotum.

The Act goes on to state that bodily orifice means anus, vagina, urethra, mouth, ear or nostril, and can be utilized for children of both sexes.

A person who sexually penetrates a child commits an offence and is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for life.

Sexual touching

The Act also goes on to explain “sexual touching” and that it is an offence to touch sexually any child under the age of 16.

Touching or any other activity is defined as sexual in the Act if:
(a) it is not done for medically recognised purposes; and
(b) a reasonable person would consider that— (i)the person’s purpose in relation to it, is, because of its nature, sexual; or (ii) because of its nature it may be sexual and because of its circumstances or the purposes of any person in relation to it, or both, it is sexual.

Anyone who sexually touches a child under 16 can be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine of $50,000 and to imprisonment for ten years; or (b) on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for 20 years.
‘Romeo Clause’ Exception

As with all things, there are exceptions to the rules and, in this case, there are the “Romeo Clauses” of the Act which are summarised as “decriminalising of sexual activity between children”.

“Under Section 20 of the Act we have something nicknamed as the Romeo Clauses. Now these clauses are not anything new. They existed in prior legislations, not quite in the same manner but they were there. The rationale behind these clauses are that children experiment… that’s a reality. So you don’t want to have a situation where children of close age engage in consensual activities, and are caught and then get charged for an offence that follows that child for the rest of their life,” said Chapman.

“Now to be clear, the parameters are very narrow to fall under these clauses, and close in age has to be one of them and is defined accordingly.

So it may be situations where police could receive a report, do their investigations and an offence is found to be committed. But because they fall within certain ages, no charge was laid against these children,” she added.

Source: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20150913/news/age-of-sexual-consent-raised-to-18

Cuts To Domestic Violence Services Are Placing Victims In Danger

by Bryce Covert  Aug 6, 2015 12:43pm
 
More than 78,500 victims of domestic violence reached out to the country’s programs offering housing, legal help, and other services on a given day last year. But of those, 10,871 had to be turned away because the programs didn’t have the resources to help them.

The National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) recently released its yearly one-day census of most of the country’s nearly 2,000 domestic violence programs and shelters. Many have cut back on key services and have run out of enough beds to accommodate the massive number of people who need them.

That can leave victims in dangerous situations longer and keeps them from moving into stable, independent living arrangements. “When [victims] come into domestic violence shelters, their situations are more dangerous, likely because they’ve waited longer,” said Joyce Grover, executive director of the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence. “They have to wait for services even when they personally feel like they are in crisis.”

They also end up having a harder time exiting shelter when housing and job training supports have dried up. “Instead of coming in and staying in a shelter for 30 days, we might have people stay for three months, four months,” she noted. “Which then makes it more difficult to serve more people.”

Those long shelter stays don’t just back up services for other victims, of course. They also end up frustrating the people staying in the shelters, which can push them back into bad situations.
 “Sometimes they might go back to an abuser or go to an unsafe situation,” said Deborah DeBare, executive director of the RI Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “It’s not helping the way our programs are intended to help.”

One victim of domestic violence described in the report had been living and hiding in her car for two weeks with her four children after escaping an abusive situation. “She needed emergency shelter but we couldn’t take her in because our shelter was full,” a Nevada advocate said in the report.

On a given day in 2014, NNEDV’s census found that most of the victims who were turned away were seeking emergency shelter — more than 4,300 people couldn’t get that service. It’s a critical intervention for people looking to flee violent situations.

Sometimes full shelters can still help victims by putting them in hotels or motels, but over the last year 122 programs had to eliminate that service thanks to funding cuts. Transitional housing can also help victims as they move toward independence, but 79 programs had to reduce or eliminate that service.

Programs also often offer legal services to help victims with protection orders, custody battles, and other court-related appearances where they need legal advice and support. But 74 programs have reduced or eliminated legal advocacy while 66 cut back on legal representation. These services are one of the big reductions for programs in Kansas, according to Grover. “We used to be able to have specific court advocates who could be there just to be that person who sits with [a victim], helps her understand what’s going on, helps her figure out what questions she needs to ask to get information, takes her to the right places,” she said.

As one advocate in Oregon says in the report, “A survivor needed an attorney to help modify her custody agreement with her abusive ex-partner because of his unsafe behavior around their daughter. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make an appointment with Legal Aid because they were full.”

Plenty of other services can been cut back. More than 100 programs reduced or eliminated transportation, 68 had to pull back on child care, and many had to cut back on therapy. Kansas programs have also struggled with providing transportation to and from, for instance, hospitals for sexual assault exams or far away courthouses to get protection orders. “If you don’t have enough advocates, a victim may have to sit and wait until one is available for some hours,” Grover said.
 “When you have a victim who’s in that kind of a crisis, it’s pretty bad to have people wait like that.”

Domestic violence programs are still grappling with an economic downturn that depleted resources at all levels. Last year, of those that had to turn away victims more than a quarter cited reduced government funding. Sequestration, the automatic budget cuts enacted in 2013, still remains in place and even federal funds that remain level hurt programs as inflation and the cost of compensating employees rises. And cuts are coming from other places as well. “Our census is telling us that state and local community cuts are still happening,” Monica McLaughlin, deputy director of public policy at NNEDV, said. Those cuts have not just reduced services but also forced some programs to shutter their doors entirely.

For DeBare in Rhode Island, level federal funding still can’t make up for state cuts and depressed private donations. “We haven’t yet been able to recover from the severe state budget cuts we’ve experienced over the past eight or nine years,” she said. “It’s still way below where funding levels were at six or seven years ago before the recession.”

Less funding also means staff cuts, and 1,392 positions were eliminated last year, three-quarters of which were in direct service such as shelter staff or legal advocates. That comes out to an average of about two positions per program, where staffs are often less than 20 people to begin with. Programs also struggle to pay people living wages when there’s no money to increase salaries or benefits, which leads to high turnover. “Advocates are often paid salaries that allow them to be eligible for [public] benefits,” McLaughlin pointed out. She recounted the story of an advocate she heard about recently who was offered a job that paid much better — at a fast food restaurant.

At the same time, demand has increased, as awareness of the issue has grown and more victims are seeking help. After video was widely circulated in the media last year of NFL player Ray Rice punching his then-fiancee Janay Palmer in an elevator, programs experienced a huge influx of victims reaching out. DeBare noted Rhode Island’s domestic violence hotline saw an “astronomical” increase in calls in the month that the news hit. “We’ve had more hotline calls in 2014 than ever before,” she said.

But while it may be welcome for more victims to seek assistance, programs can’t always offer it. “The combination of of state cuts and increased demand for services is creating a real hardship here,” DeBare said.

Source: http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/08/06/3688663/domestic-violence-census/

Over 5,500 Calls for Help to Hotline in One Year

Published on Aug 5, 2015, 8:51 pm AST
By Kim Boodram


MORE than 5,000 calls for help were made to the National Domestic Violence hotlines from October 2012 to September 2013, Minister in the Ministry of Gender Youth and Child Development Stacy Roopna­rine said yesterday.

Roop­narine said despite efforts from all quarters, gender-based violence was on the rise.

She was speaking at a stakehol­der consultation to develop a commu- nica­tion strategy for the prevention of violence against women and children in Trinidad and Tobago, at the Radisson Hotel in Port of Spain.

“In addition to 5,522 calls to the hotline, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service had repor­ted 689 cases of sexual offences from January to September in 2013.

“This represented an increase of more than 200, compared with the whole of 2011,” Roopnarine said.
Reported sexual offences involving female victims numbered 573 for the period 2012 while the number of charges for sexual assault with female victims totalled 260 for the same period, Roopnarine said.

“For the period January to August 2013, the number of reported sexual offences with female victims amounted to 266, compared to the number of charges for sexual assault with female victims of 116 for the same period,” she added.
Government was committed to addressing gender-based violence and as a member of the United Nations, the country had signed and ratified various international treaties and conventions without reservation, Roopnarine said.

“These instruments have always emphasised that member nations put in place all the necessary mechanisms needed to eliminate gender discrimination, ensure equality and human dignity to all,” she said.

Gender-based violence had however continued to rise and allevia­ting this social disease had proven to be enormously difficult, she said.

“There is still the need to find conceptual vehicles and practical mechanisms through which the problem of violence against wo­men and children can be addressed,” Roopnarine said, going on to suggest an effective communication stra- tegy process is an important tool.

Earlier interventions needed

Dr Bernadette Theodore-Gandi, Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) representative, in her address, said globally, up to 35 per cent of women had experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate-partner violence or non-partner sexual violence.

“Across the region, women who reported physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner were also more likely to report unwanted or unintended pregnancies.

“Under these circumstances, the potential for unsafe abortions increase, and these women are also at risk for sexually transmitted infections,” Theodore-Gandi said.

Lasting change and a permanent break in the cycle of violence meant in addition to enacting appropriate legislation, having sustained programmes to move the population towards more peaceful norms and early and sustained interventions to at-risk families, she said.

Source: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20150805/news/stacy-over-5500-calls-for-help-to-hotline-in-one-year

CoP: Speak out against domestic violence

By: Shastri Boodan

Published: Tuesday, July 21, 2015

 

Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams has called on Tobagonians to report all incidents of domestic violence.

Williams was speaking on Sunday after the T&T Police Service staged a walk to raise the awareness of domestic violence in the community.

“All across the country we have a challenge with domestic violence.

“What we are doing is looking at the national issue and seeking to address it,” Williams said.
He urged victims to come forward. Victims, he said, could include men, women, children and the elderly.

Domestic violence was an issue which, from a family perspective, had to be addressed, the acting Commissioner said.

Superintendent Joanne Archie, of the Tobago Division, said domestic violence was under-reported on the island.

Devika Sammy, public relations officer of the Tobago Hindu Society (THS), said her organisation was willing to assist victims and families needing support.

Sammy, who is trained in civil and family mediation, said Tobago had a non-functional home for battered women. Her organisation, she said, offered counselling to anyone seeking help.

She said she planned to expand this voluntary service once the group established its facilities at Signal Hill.

Sammy said there were several instances of elderly abuse and men who were beaten by their spouses but were too ashamed or fear being ridiculed if they make a police report.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2015-07-20/cop-speak-out-against-domestic-violence

CoP: No upsurge in crime

• Published on Jul 19, 2015, 8:58 pm AST 
• Stories by Elizabeth Williams

Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams yesterday said there's been no upsurge in crime and there have been fewer murders this year than last year.

Williams gave this information in response to questions from the media on the recent daily increase in murders in the country.

He spoke in Plymouth, Tobago, at the fifth in a series of walks against domestic violence, organised by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.

Last Thursday, four members of one family were killed in Chatham, South Trinidad.

The Commissioner said there have been fewer robberies, fewer break-ins, fewer thefts of motor vehicles, along with rapes and sexually related offences.

Williams said, “In Trinidad and Tobago there is no upsurge in crime. We have had several murders over the last few days but we have had less murders in 2015 than we would have had in 2014.”

Williams also said he remained optimistic the case involving the May 4, 2014 murder of Dana Seetahal SC would soon be concluded, however “there are some challenges”.

Since Seetahal's murder, no one has been brought before the courts on the matter.

“It has been a challenging investigation. It's one where the issue of IC witnesses is not a feature heavily based on matters of technology, and is one which will bring out a totally new look in the context of the Police Service, and its capacity and capability to investigate crime.”

Domestic violence

There have been 25 reported cases of domestic violence in Tobago to date, five of those males, according to Acting Senior Superintendent of Police Tobago Joanne Archie .

Deputy Commissioner of Police Ann- Marie Alleyne-Daly said there have been a number of domestic violence deaths in the country.

“In 2012, there were 19 such deaths, in 2013, twenty-three, in 2014, twenty-seven, and we are half-way through the year and so far there have been 10 deaths,” she said.

There have been 295 reports of physical abuse, and 210 reports of threats to date. Five more walks against domestic violence are planned for Trinidad. See Page 19

Source: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20150719/news/cop-no-upsurge-in-crime

"Being a Father:" A State of the World's Fathers Film

Domestic Violence Act Needs to be Ammended

• Published on May 25, 2015, 10:44 am AST
• Updated on May 25, 2015, 3:07 pm AST
• By Nikita Braxton

Attorney Kevin Ratiram

ATTORNEY Kevin Ratiram is advocating the amendment of the Domestic Violence Act, so that a magistrate can grant a protection order, the very first time a victim is threatened. Ratiram is also questioning the way in which domestic violence reports are handled by police officers.

According to Gender, Youth and Child Development Minister Clifton De Coteau, there were more than 11,000 new cases of domestic violence and child abuse filed in 2013 and 2014, and 541 cases of crimes against children were recorded last year, with nineteen children murdered.

Ratiram said: "Domestic violence is a scourge that we are battling, much like the terrorist group ISIS running rampant over various parts of the world. The Domestic Violence Act is a good and useful piece of legislation. However, from my experience practicing in the Courts with the Act, there are some changes I think are necessary. The Act provides that the Court can grant a protection Order where the respondent has engaged in, "emotional or psychological abuse", and it defines this as, "a pattern of behavior of any kind, the purpose of which is to undermine the emotional/mental well-being of any person, including interfering with/damaging the property of the person, and the forced confinement of the person.

Ratiram said there was no definition of the word "pattern" in the Act, with some magistrates interpreting the word to mean "a few times". He said : "The practical result of this therefore is that if the offender destroys your property on one occasion, let's say he smashes windows and breaks furniture in your house, you can't get a Protection Order against him, since the Act requires a "pattern" of behaviour. Similarly, if he locks you up in a room for a whole day or whole night, you can't get an Order since the Act requires a pattern of behaviour"

Ratiram said that the Act should be amended to give a magistrate, if he sees fit, having regard to the circumstances of the particular case, the power to grant a Protection Order, even if the incident is a one-off one.
Said Ratiram: "Under the Act, a Protection Order may also be granted where the Respondent has been telephoning the person at the person's place of residence or work. The result of this is that if the offender persistently calls you on your phone if you are in a mall, or on the street, or abroad on vacation, you can't get a Protection Order against him, since the Act only refers to calls to your place of residence or work".

Ratiram said: "In my view, the Act must be amended to suit the times we now live. We live in the technological age, where everyone has a cell-phone, and also communicates via email, text message, wats app. So that it should make no difference where you are when the person makes the harassing calls to you. It should make no difference if his communication is by phone call, text message, or email. Once he harasses you electronically, you should be able to get a Protection Order against him.
Ratiram said he was also concerned about how some police officers treated with reports of domestic violence.
" I know of numerous instances where women have gone to the Police after being brutalised by their male partner, and the simple response of the police is, 'Go by the JP in the court and bring him up for domestic violence". Some officers seem to think that just because one can go the Court and apply for a Protection Order, this absolves the police from conducting their own investigations and taking their own action. Even where the report of violence suggests that the matter is a domestic one, the police still have a legal obligation to conduct their own investigation, and where necessary, lay criminal charges against the offender. Physical abuse does not only fall under the ambit of domestic violence under the Domestic Violence Act. It also constitutes the criminal offense of Assault by Beating. I'd like to send a message to the police that they cannot allow the Domestic Violence Act or the JP in the Court to do their job for them. Domestic violence in Trinidad and Tobago is too prevalent, and too acute a problem, for the police to wash their hands of it".

Source: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20150525/news/attorney-domestic-violence-act-needs-to-be-ammended