Remarks at the Caribbean Conference on Domestic Violence and Gender Equality

Remarks by CDA Thomas Smitham at the Global Center for Behavioral Health inaugural Caribbean Conference on Domestic Violence and Gender Equality: Protecting Women and Girls, Magdalena Grand, Tobago March 26, 2013

CDA Thomas Smitham delivering his remarks

(AS PREPARED)

SALUTATIONS  

• Dr. Donna Baird and Dr. Tamarah Moss-Knight, of the Global Center for Behavioral Health
• Minister in the Ministry of People and Social Development, Mrs. Vernella Alleyne-Toppin
• Secretary for Health, Social Services and Gender Affairs, Tobago House of Assembly, Mrs. Claudia Groome-Duke
• Specially invited guests
• Members of the Media
• Ladies and gentlemen

Good morning and thank you for having me here today.  I am honored to join this impressive group of advocates for progress in the battle to eliminate domestic violence and achieve gender equality.  Violence against women and girls is, sadly, a global epidemic. 

Strengthening the prevention of and response to gender-based violence, including domestic violence, is of vital importance.  No country can achieve peace and prosperity if half of its people are deprived of reaching their full potential.  Addressing this epidemic is a priority for the United States.

Promoting the status of women and girls and striving to end domestic violence is not just a moral imperative; it is, in essence, a strategic one.  As former Secretary Clinton so often said, women are drivers of economic growth.  Women’s education is linked to economic growth and improved health outcomes.  When women and girls are not protected, their ability to participate fully in the development of society is stunted, which adversely affects us all.  Gender-based violence is an issue of international human rights and national security.

According to one study, women and girls are the victims of 95 percent of the world’s domestic violence.  One-third of women in the world have experienced sexual, physical, emotional, or other abuse in their lifetime.  One in five women will experience rape or attempted rape.

I have had the privilege of meeting many of Trinidad and Tobago’s leaders in the fight against domestic violence.  And they always say to me, “we can’t forget the men!”  And they’re right.  The truth is we – men and women – are all fully invested here.  Ending domestic violence is not a gender-specific concern. 

Both men and women should be united in the fight against domestic violence as an intolerable violation of human dignity.  But, in addition to encouraging a united front based on a moral imperative, let’s also focus on the economic costs of domestic violence.  As long as domestic violence exists, a community cannot prosper fully.  We do not only pay emotional and psychological tolls.  We also pay the medical bills and legal costs; we lose wages and productivity.  Businesses lose employees.  Families lose primary wage-earners.

Violence and abuse keep women out of the workforce and drag down communities for generations.  Focusing global efforts on fostering women’s economic participation will grow national GDPs and personal incomes.  One study estimated that lowering barriers to women’s economic participation in emerging economies could raise per capita incomes as much as 14 percent.  Larger incomes mean more money to feed families, send children to school, and support local merchants and producers, igniting a virtuous circle of economic growth.

If women are healthy and educated, their families will flourish. If women are free from violence, their families will flourish. If women have a chance to work and earn as full and equal partners in society, their families will flourish.

And when families flourish, communities and nations will flourish.

The United States continues to work on improving its response to gender-based violence, both domestically and abroad.  In August of 2012, the U.S. Government released its first-ever Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally, accompanied by an Executive Order from President Obama, which directs all relevant U.S. agencies to implement the Strategy.  It has four main objectives:

• to increase coordination of gender-based violence prevention and response efforts among U.S. Government agencies and with other stakeholders;
• to enhance integration of gender-based violence prevention and response efforts into existing U.S. Government work;
• to improve collection, analysis, and use of data and research to enhance gender-based violence prevention and response efforts; and
• to enhance or expand U.S. Government programming that addresses gender-based violence. 

Since the release of the Strategy and the Executive Order, the United States has engaged with regional partners to spur action against gender-based violence, including domestic violence, within our own hemisphere.  According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, every one of the Caribbean islands has a sexual violence rate that is higher than the world average.

Domestic violence is not cultural, it’s criminal.  And it must be treated as a crime, with the entire legal system working together to prevent and prosecute these crimes.  It starts with having the right laws in place.  And these laws need to be implemented to hold people accountable and address impunity, which often fuels the violence.

Last December, the Secretary of State’s Office for Global Women’s Issues organized the first Caribbean Dialogue on Rule of Law and Gender-Based Violence in Miami.  Approximately 80 representatives from 12 countries of the English-speaking Caribbean joined forces to exchange ideas, best practices, and strategies for strengthening the rule of law and improving the response to gender-based violence.  The robust turnout included representation from a spectrum of leaders and professionals – attorneys general, judges and magistrates, prosecutors and defense lawyers, police officers, and civil society actors – all of whom play an essential role in addressing this complex issue.

The Dialogue gave participants an opportunity to deepen their understanding of how violence against women and girls affects all sectors of society, the cost of violence in the work place, its linkage to HIV, and the importance of the role of men and boys in preventing domestic violence.  During breakout sessions, participants had intensive peer-to-peer discussions:  prosecutor to prosecutor, police officer to police officer, and lawyer to lawyer, enabling them to learn directly from each other.  Participants also had the opportunity to observe the U.S. court system in action and visited the Miami-Dade County Domestic Violence Court. 
They had a firsthand glimpse of the U.S. judicial and legal process for prosecuting perpetrators of domestic violence.

As part of our global strategy to end gender-based violence, we are taking a whole-of-government approach.  The U.S. Government is initiating and supporting projects around the world as nations join together to end this scourge.  For example, the U.S. Department of Defense provided nearly U.S. $ 3 million for a project administered by the U.S. Department of State in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to help create a civilian police force to respond effectively to cases of gender-based violence.  The project has trained male and female officers on how to investigate gender-based violence cases, built police stations, provided essential equipment enabling police to be more responsive to the community, and funded a public awareness campaign on gender-based violence.

In Afghanistan, the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs supports a training program for prosecutors at the Office of the Attorney General in Kabul and seven provinces nationwide, which are dedicated to prosecuting crimes against women and girls.

As the U.S. Government continues to provide worldwide support to combat violence against women, we are fully aware that we still have work to do at home. 

Domestically, we’ve recognized gender-based violence as both a human rights and public health policy concern.  The U.S. Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act in 1994 to protect victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. The Act provides 1.6 billion U.S. dollars toward investigation and prosecution of violent crimes against women, imposes automatic and mandatory restitution on those convicted, and allows civil redress in cases prosecutors chose to leave unprosecuted.   Just last month, the U.S. Congress voted to reauthorize and expand this important law.

The Act also established the Office on Violence Against Women within the Department of Justice.  It funds services provided to victims of domestic violence and supports training on these issues to ensure consistent responses across the country. One of the greatest successes of the Act is its emphasis on a coordinated community response to domestic violence and sexual assault.  Courts, law enforcement, prosecutors, victim services, and the private bar currently work together in a coordinated effort that had not previously existed at the state and local levels.

There is a repeated theme we see at home and throughout the world when it comes to our fight against domestic violence:  It’s about cooperation and coordination.  Laws alone do not prevent domestic violence.  Police officers, lawyers, judges, and civil society must work together to protect and empower victims.

No one should be afraid to report that they’ve been a victim of violent crime.  No one should be afraid that the police won’t listen.  No one should be afraid that they can’t afford to leave a violent home.  Communities must come together to ensure that fear does not hold victims back.  Police must be responsive, and community organizations should have the resources to help victims find emotional and financial security. 

Domestic violence holds back entire societies.  Because when women are unequal participants, economic growth is undermined.  Development is stymied.  Communities and countries are robbed of the contributions that women could make.

The good news is that there are impassioned leaders around the world, and in this room today, pushing for change.  And I know that by working together, by using every tool at our disposal and by refusing to ever back down or give up, we can see real improvement in the Caribbean and around the world. 

Thank you.

Source: http://trinidad.usembassy.gov/speeches/remarks-by-cda-thomas-smitham-march-26-2013.html

Domestic Violence Not Cultural, It’s A Crime

Domestic violence not cultural, it’s a crime

By YOHANSEH ASUKILE Thursday, March 28 2013

THE INAUGURAL conference on Domestic Violence and Gender Equality officially got started in Tobago on Tuesday at the Magdalena Grand Beach Resort.

Under the theme, “Protecting Women and Girls,” the conference heard addresses from Secretary of the Division of Health and Social Services in the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), Claudia Groome-Duke, Minister in the Ministry of the People Vernella Alleyne-Toppin, Dr Yitades Gebre, representative of the World Health Organisation/Pan American Health Organisation and United States Embassy Charge d’Affaires Thomas Smitham.

Addressing domestic violence as an epidemic, Smitham made it clear that domestic violence is not cultural...it’s a crime. Smitham said the issue of domestic violence is a priority item for the United States government. It is a foreign policy of the US and it was a focus of the recent and former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, he added.

A global women’s office was created by her he said to deal with many of these and similar issues affecting women and President Obama has been very supportive he noted.

The US he said continues to work on improving its response to gender base violence both here and abroad.

In 2012 they released its first ever strategy to prevent and to respond global based violence globally and it was implemented in all US agencies through an executive order from the President he stated.

From that strategy, he gave four objectives which he believed could be useful to the conference:-

I. To increase the coordination of gender based violence prevention and response among US government agencies and with other stakeholders.

II. To enhance integration of gender based violence prevention and response efforts into US government work.

III. To improve the collection analysis and use of data and research to enhance gender based violence prevention and response efforts; and

IV. To enhance or expand US government programming that addresses gender based violence.

Minister Alleyne-Toppin, read from a prepared speech on behalf of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

Dr Gebre noted that violence of women is a widespread public health and human rights problem worldwide.

It has multiple health, social and serious economic consequences for the individual, the family, the community and society in general but violence against women can be prevented because there are some and promising interventions have remarked.

Women can be empowered, transforming harmful gender norms, gender empowerment, laws and policies are some of promising interventions which can be applied.

He gave the definition of as a “the public or private act of gender based violence that results or likely to results in physical, sexual, psychological harm to women, derived from unequal power relationships which may include: acts of physical aggression and harm, eg slapping, kicking, beating; emotional or psychological abuse and controlling behaviours, eg intimidation, constant belittling and humiliating and coerced sex, sexual harassment and rape.”

Source: http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,175467.html

Experts: Young Men Learning to Handle Conflict with Violence

Published: Thursday, March 28, 2013

Sascha Wilson

 

From a very tender age, boys are taught and encouraged in some cases to deal with their problems through violence. It’s one of the major problems with the way in which young males are socialised, says chairman of the Coalition against Domestic Violence Diana Mahabir-Wyatt. She was commenting on Justice Mark Mohammed’s warning that there would be a “crisis of untold magnitude” if young men were not socialised differently.

The judge made the comments on Tuesday as he sentenced a man to 12 years in jail for raping his nine-year-old sister. Mahabir-Wyatt, in an interview yesterday, said men were socialised to deal with conflict not through talking, but through fighting.

Recalling that once she saw her son’s kindergarten teacher teaching her son how to fight, she said, “I think Mark Mohammed was referring to this. It’s okay for girls to cry and quarrel, but boys have not learned how to cry or express their feelings by talking about their emotions and feelings, to say I am hurt and uncomfortable or sad. “They don’t get a chance to express their emotions which all human being need to do.”

In addition, she said, domestic violence in families teaches children to be violent. “Once children see their parents fighting and using force, they think that it is a socially acceptable way to deal with stress.” She recommended that programmes geared towards helping young men deal with issues without resorting to violence should be introduced in all schools.

Hazel Brown, head of the Network of NGOs for the Advancement of Women, believes the media have an important role in how males are socialised. “I think we have to focus on the messages in the media that tell young fellas that their behaviour is acceptable because they are men and men rule, it’s a man’s world.” Leader of Men Against Violence Against Women Dr Russell Foote believes the change in mindset must begin in the home.

“I think for too long we have associated proper socialisation with providing children with material things, and more important than that is teaching them proper manners, how to be respectful and courteous from an early age.” Without fundamental values, he said young people could be easily led astray and “lose control.” Mohammed also called on the State to provide proper counselling to victims and offenders of sexual offences.

Commenting on that, founder of the Victim Support Foundation Loverne Henry noted that support and counselling, especially for the victims, was not only the responsibility of the State, but also of communities, families and the workplace. Henry said there were several support mechanisms put in place by non-governmental organisations.

However, she said, what was lacking was the sustained multifaceted support system necessary for victims to “continue living their life, because you can survive the trauma, but you don’t necessarily live again.”

Source: http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2013-03-28/experts-young-men-learning-handle-conflict-violence

 

Neighbours Rescue Woman After Attack

Published: Tuesday, March 26, 2013

An intervention by neighbours in a domestic dispute may have saved the life of Takiyah Hanes, who was brutally chopped on Sunday. Hanes is now warded at the San Fernando General Hospital in a serious condition. According to a report, Hanes, 24, was at her Maingot Road, St Julien’s Village, home on Sunday around 10 am when a man she knows entered the house.

After an argument, the man left but returned shortly after with a cutlass and chopped her several times on the head. He then dragged her to the living room and choked her. Neighbours, hearing the commotion, rushed to her rescue and took her to hospital. Princes Town Police are now searching for a 42-year-old man.

In a separate incident, Princes Town Police are also searching for a man who shot and wounded Steve Shorey. Shorey, 20, was walking close to his Bonanza Street home on Sunday when he was approached by a man who pointed a gun at him and announced a hold-up.

Shorey, a welder, was shot in the right shoulder as he tried to escape. He was taken to the San Fernando General Hospital where he is still warded.—Yvonne Webb

 

Source:  http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2013-03-25/neighbours-rescue-woman-after-attack

Gender Advocates for Domestic Violence Training in Trinidad

Monday, March 11, 2013

A number of high-level gender advocates and policymakers are among those who have already been confirmed for the inaugural Caribbean Conference on Domestic Violence and Gender Equality which will be taking place in Trinidad and Tobago in a few weeks.

The conference is expected to bring together professionals who deal with domestic violence issues, as well as individuals in health care and other social services to have dialogue on critical issues that relate to violence against women and girls. The event is also expected to advance gender equality and empowerment of women which could possibly lead to positive outcomes for everyone -- including men and boys.

The conference is scheduled to take place from March 25 to 27 and is being organised by the Global Centre for Behavioural Health. Among the speakers will be Almas Jiwani, president of UN Women Canada.

Deputy director general of Jamaica Red Cross and member of the planning committee for the conference, Lois Hue, said that a number of Jamaican women's advocates have been invited to the event.

"The Caribbean persons have been concerned for some time about the decline in the treatment of women, and the fact that violence against women and particularly girls have been escalating," she explained.

She said the Red Cross has always strived to introduce elements that deal with gender sensitivity and the treatment of girls in their programmes.

"We thought that it was time for us to now do something that focuses specifically on domestic violence and crime against women," she said.

The Global Centre for Behavioural Health feels gender-based violence is one of the most ignored crimes in the region and continues to be one of the most pervasive human rights violations.

"According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, every one of the Caribbean islands has a sexual violence rate that is higher than the world average," said president of the organisation and conference chair Dr Donna Baird.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/allwoman/Gender-advocates-for-domestic-violence-training-in-Trinidad_13741408#ixzz2NxBxaFtX

Violence Against Women: What's Sport Got to Do With It?

Say "violence against women" in the same sentence as the word "sport" and most people will conjure up thoughts of the Kansas City Chiefs' Jovan Belcher, South Africa's Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius or even O.J. Simpson -- each of whom have been accused of murdering a woman in instances of gender-based violence. It almost seems axiomatic these days that domestic-based violence and sport are intertwined in a toxic way, and unfortunately, it surprises no one.

What might surprise, however, is the fact that there is a growing movement that believes sport can be a powerful and positive way to combat gender-based violence. This counter-intuitive view was the focus of several presentations at the United Nations 57th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) -- an annual ten-day enclave currently ongoing that gathers to evaluate progress and formulate policies to promote gender equality and women's empowerment worldwide. Amid a rising tide of high-profile cases of gender violence, from India to Pakistan, South Africa to Steubenville, Ohio and Kansas City, Mo., it's no surprise that the theme of the meetings this year was violence against women.

One in three women will or has experienced gender-based violence, and this distressing trend is prevalent in every country around the world regardless of its stage in economic development. Even here in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that one in five women has been raped. In other countries, Ethiopia for example, as much as 70 percent of the female population has been affected by gender-based violence according a study by the World Health Organization.

As a member of the Board of Directors of Women Win, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the use of sport as a strategy to empower adolescent girls, I attended sessions last week under the auspices of the UN's CSW where governments, community leaders, academics, men, women and girls gathered to share their perspectives on the issue of gender-based violence.

The nuggets of insight emerging from these conversations demonstrate why sport can be a powerful and positive way to combat gender-based violence at individual, community and society levels.

One panel, notable because it was chaired by Irina Bokova, the top official at UNESCO, offered hard facts and anecdotes about the impact a sport-based development program for girls was making. Kalyani Subramanyam, the National Coordinator of the Goal program in India, explained how her program turned in desperation to sport after years of trying other strategies that proved ineffective in reversing gender-based violence and HIV transmission. Grasping at straws and recognizing that these women needed a different type of empowerment, Kalyani decided to use netball -- a sport that required little in the way of start-up costs or equipment and known to be a game played primarily by girls.
Her Goal program starts at the foundational level of helping girls gain basic body awareness and knowledge, and continues until they also have gained life skills to advocate for themselves and their rights. She described girls who didn't know how to jump when they first started her program, let alone have the skills to catch a ball. By the time they graduate from Goal however, they are not only playing competitive games of Netball, but are educated about their bodies, armed with strategies to protect themselves from harm and a desire to help others do the same.

Perhaps even more importantly, in a country where girls have not traditionally played sport, Kalyani has seen significant shifts in the attitudes among the players' families and the surrounding communities in regards to what girls are capable of -- simply by seeing them compete in athletics.

The voices rising in support of sport across the 57th CSW were not just from grassroots and regional development representatives. They included some of the most prominent leaders in women's development as well as major donor institutions and global corporations such as Carole Oglesby from UN Women and Payal Dalal from Standard Chartered Bank whose company played a core role in supporting the development of the Goal program described above. Susan Davis, the president of BRAC, the largest development organization in the world, was also on hand to express the support of her organization for this seemingly unorthodox approach to women's rights with the explanation that BRAC sees sport as providing an opportunity for self-empowerment and strengthening of resiliency by putting girls in touch with their 'inner resources.'

But the opportunities for transformation of gender roles do not just occur at the individual level. Ravi Verma, the Asia Director for the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), believes that sport is one of the primary cultural domains that reinforce traditional masculine roles. He believes that if girls enter this space, it could have far-reaching effects on the gender hierarchies that create a culture of acceptance for gender-based violence. In the near future, the ICRW plans to conduct new research highlighting the crucial impact of sport in transforming attitudes toward women at a societal level.

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of Title IX in 2012, Hilary Clinton, former U.S. Secretary of State said that specific legislation was one of "the most consequential pieces of legislation for women" in the country's history and acknowledged the power that sport has to "liberate and open up opportunities for so many."

The problem of gender-based violence is sewn deep into the fabric of too many societies, but these leaders are coming forward with their support wisely realizing that a well-designed sport-based development program has much to offer the global effort to combat gender based violence.

At Women Win we know that sport is not a cure-all, but we also know that there are qualities inherent in sport that align with the core necessities of addressing gender-based violence at the individual, community and societal levels. Girls who gain self-esteem, body awareness and confidence through sports prove more able to protect themselves, and others, from the threat of violence.

The sad reality is that violence against women is rampant around the world and more common here in the United States than we would like to admit. With a deliberate, rights-based approach however, sport can help give girls all over the world -- from New England to New Delhi -- a chance to run, jump, throw and swim their ways into safer and more empowered futures.

In sport, as in life, our toughest competitions are won and lost by good coaching and preparation. Let's give our girls every possible opportunity to win by maintaining focus on the messages delivered about the value of sport throughout the UN's Commission on the Status of Women. We at Women Win challenge you to find and support programs in your community so that we can reframe the connection between sport and gender-based violence both here and abroad.

We look forward to the day when connecting the word sport with the phrase 'violence against women' will involve the triumph of sport-based development programs in combating domestic violence rather than the current tragic trend it now dredges up.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ziba-cranmer/violence-against-women_b_2867007.html?utm_hp_ref=impact

 

It's Time to Say No More

Consider this: domestic violence and sexual assault do not just impact survivors; these crimes affect all of us. With one in four women experiencing domestic violence in their lives and one in six men being sexually abused before the age of 18, these individuals are not stranger to us. They are our co-workers, our friends, or family.

But too often, domestic violence and sexual assault are hidden and the pain of the individual is unknown, largely owing to feelings of embarrassment, shame, and even self-loathing.

On Thursday, March 7, President Obama signed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) into law, thereby formalizing help for millions of people who are survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. But we must do more than help those dealing with these problems; we must end them.

Towards that goal, there is a profound need to change attitudes and behaviors across the nation.

I write as a proud and passionate advocate for a groundbreaking domestic violence and sexual assault awareness campaign called NO MORE. A graphic symbol designed to brand domestic violence and sexual assault, NO MORE -- like the pink ribbon for breast cancer and the red ribbon for AIDS -- can reduce this stigma by making the issues more visible. With more people using the symbol, sharing the symbol, and seeing the symbol whenever there is a publicized incident of domestic violence and sexual assault, NO MORE can raise radical new awareness that these problems occur around us every day and in every region of the country.

By branding domestic violence and sexual assault, we aim to engage the general public to understand that, like other health issues -- cancer, heart disease -- domestic violence and sexual assault need to be more of a priority. Through this new branding awareness, there is hope that we can, indeed, change behavior and raise the necessary resources for prevention and education.

Wednesday, March 13 is NO MORE Day. Thousands of advocates and supporters across the nation will unite to officially launch NO MORE. Nearly every organization working to combat domestic violence and sexual assault in the nation -- whether their focus is women and girls, men and boys, teenagers, children, minorities, rural or urban communities -- is coming together to say NO MORE -- and I urge you to take action too...

We only need to read the news on a daily basis to understand the vital importance of getting engaged. March 13 also is the start of the trial of two students in Steubenville, Ohio accused of raping of an unconscious, 16-year-old girl. This horrific event is even more disturbing because it is believed that other students may have been present during the crime. Photos were taken surrounding the incident and shared on social media, but no one spoke up or intervened. This extreme case underscores the fact that when bystanders do not take action, we not only do great harm to the victim, we also perpetuate the attitude that there is nothing anyone can do to change the behavior.

NO MORE challenges that assumption. I believe that by using the symbol repeatedly and widely, like any powerful brand , we can convey a powerful message: We all must play a critical role in preventing assault and abuse. On March 13 we are asking all Americans to take the time to:

KNOW MORE. Learn the signs of domestic violence and listen without judgment to the survivors of sexual assault. Get the facts and know the available resources.

Say NO MORE. Break the silence. Speak out. Seek help when you see this problem or harassment of any find in your family, your community, your workplace, or your school.

Share NO MORE. Share the NO MORE symbol with everyone you know. Facebook it. Tweet it. Pin it. Instagram it. Email it. Wear it. Help to increase awareness about the extent of domestic violence and sexual assault.

Ensure NO MORE. Get involved. Volunteer in your community, or donate to a local, state, or national domestic violence or sexual assault organization.

Visit nomore.org. Add your voice. Together, we can end domestic violence and sexual assault.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/impact/

Violence Against Children Conference...

Media told: Don’t glorify abusers

Published: Thursday, March 14, 2013

Geisha Kowlessar

Valerie Youseff

In reporting child abuse cases the media must be careful, through the use of language, not to glorify the abuser or report from sensational angles but rather simply give the facts. Media houses must also be wary of publishing gory details as they  could excite other perpetrators, said Valerie Youseff, professor of linguistics and head of the department at the University of the West Indies’ St Augustine Campus. She made the call at the final day of the Violence Against Children Conference at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain.

Emphasising her point, Youseff used examples of reports in the print media, singling out headline and sub-headings. In some instances, she argued, they were all that people read in a report and the media, therefore, had a responsibility to paint a true picture of what really happened without exaggeration or twisting the facts.

“When we write what we write, we have to think how it is going to be publicly received. In instances of child abuse we really need to be conscious of what we put into the paper and how that will affect the victim later on,” Youseff added. One detrimental effect of reporting specific details in child abuse cases was running the risk of “enticing and titillating” the wrong people.

She said: “I have not researched that but this is what I was told when I commented to someone I had not expected to find this level of detail in these reports. “Someone who actually worked in the media did say to me they understand that quite a few people do read these reports, particularly for these details.” Saying enticing the wrong people, including would-be-paedophiles, was not intentional by media houses Youseff appealed for media managers to think beyond selling newspapers. 

She added: “It is fine to say it sells but I honestly don’t think that we necessarily are told to think beyond that. The very fact that we have competition among the newspapers is going to create a culture that you want to sell. “But if even one newspaper stood up and said ‘we are not going to represent things in this way,’ I really think it would make everyone else think about it.” 

She said it sometimes took years for a court case to be completed and during that time the victim could be a young woman who could also be in a relationship. “She might be in a relationship she is struggling with because of all that has happened to her and that might be ruined by what is being said in the media,” she said.

The way forward, Youseff recommended, was to recognise and ensure that the victim had a voice and it was one which people were interested to hear. She said: “It’s not everybody who wants to hear about violence or the level of abuse...quite a lot of people are really concerned about the position of the victim. “So we can look at the whole angle we take these stories from. There are many different angles as there are many people in the total scenario.”

Youseff said in cases where someone had died as a result of abuse or had gone through a series of abuse, sometimes the perpetrator was represented by the media almost as a “kind of anti-hero.” “There is that in women who are attracted, in a peculiar, self-destructive kind of way, to the man who is violent and abusive and it’s as if that is seen to be at work in little relationships reporters pick up on in a court scenario and they represent it as they are seeing it,” Youseff said.

She gave the example of the case of four-year-old Amy Emily Annamunthodo, who was repeatedly raped, sodomised and beaten to death by her stepfather, Marlon King.  Youseff recalled one daily newspaper reported one instance of two women vying for King’s attention while the court case was going on. She said: “For some reason the report chose to report the way in which these two women were talking to him and almost jostling for his attention.

“Why should he get so much attention from the press of that kind? Shouldn’t we be condemning him?” Youseff questioned. King was sentenced to hang for the child’s murder.


...Mahabir-Wyatt cautions about use of language
Chair of the Coalition Against Domestic & Gender-Based Violence Diana Mahabir-Wyatt also urged the media to be careful in the use of language, saying one word could make a huge difference and relay the wrong meaning. She gave an example of a 15-year-old girl from south Trinidad who committed suicide on a beach with a 26-year-old man. The girl was reported to “having an affair” with the man.

“A 15-year-old cannot have ‘an affair,’ because it is statutory rape. He was referred to as her lover, not somebody who had seduced her, which is what he had done. He was sneaking around her home and luring her away. He was a predator.” Mahabir-Wyatt appealed for care in the language used in relation to child abuse, because children were being raped and were not capable of consenting to sexual relations.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2013-03-14/media-told-don%E2%80%99t-glorify-abusers

Mahabir-Wyatt hits out at lack of proper Children’s Authority

Published: 

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

 

Chairman of the Coalition Against Domestic Violence Diana Mahabir-Wyatt has promised to start a revolution if the Children’s Authority is not properly constituted. An emotional Mahabir-Wyatt made the disclosure during the afternoon segment of a three-day seminar, titled “Violence Against Children—Breaking the Cycle V.” The seminar is being held at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain, and ends today.

In attendance were representatives of the Rape Crisis Association, the T&T Police Service and several non-governmental organisations tasked with ensuring the protection of children. Mahabir-Wyatt said every year various governments talked about children and the crimes perpetuated against them, yet the authority was lacking in many ways. She added: “They still don’t have funding. They still don’t have staffing and the act is yet to be proclaimed.

“There are nine people to do the work within the authority. These include investigations, research and other aspects of the authority. “With only nine people it’s humanly impossible to achieve anything.” Mahabir-Wyatt said when one looked around the country, it was obvious children needed help. She said children were sleeping on the streets and were also victims of abuse, yet the authority was not getting financial assistance from Government to deal with its mandate.

“We need to start a revolution to ensure we get the authority properly set up,” she said to applause. Also speaking during the afternoon session was chairman of the Children’s Authority Stephanie Daly, SC. She outlined the roles and functions of the authority and said it faced various challenges. She said so far there was no centralised system for reporting abuse or neglect against children.

However, what was in existence was a system which “makes it more traumatic for children,” she added. Outlining that statistics have revealed that there are 330,000 children living in T&T, Daly said the mandate of the Children's Authority was vast, yet it was understaffed.—Denyse Renne
 

Source:  http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2013-03-13/mahabir-wyatt-hits-out-lack-proper-children%E2%80%99s-authority

CJ Archie: T&T a Violent Society

By Keino Swamber

Story Created: Mar 11, 2013 at 9:56 PM ECT

Story Updated: Mar 12, 2013 at 8:51 PM ECT 

 

CHIEF JUSTICE Ivor Archie says Trinidad and Tobago is a violent society.

Speaking yesterday at a conference on violence against children organised by the Coalition Against
Domestic Violence and the Rape Crisis Society, Archie said he is not at all consoled by the fact that violence is present in every country.

"We often tend to use that sort of observation as an excuse for inaction," he said.

"I am also disturbed by the sometimes pointed references to culture, ethnic origin and even age when we seek to define 'hot- spots' of violence in our country. Moreover, we continue to be reactionary, seeming to wait to see violence occurring before another plan is put in place."

Archie said the conference, held at Hyatt Regency Hotel, Wrightson Road, Port of Spain, is timely and important since it comes at a time when Trinidad and Tobago remains in the grip of a cycle of almost unprecedented violence.

"Not only are our children, in every instance, victims of that violence either directly or indirectly, but there are instances in which they are caught up also, directly or indirectly, in aiding and abetting such violence.

"Surely, the father of this nation and first Prime Minister, Dr Eric Williams, did not even remotely envision such a state of affairs when he told our children on the first day of our independence that the future of this nation lay in their schoolbags. I am sure he never countenanced book bags as anything else but that, surely not receptacles for knives, for guns and other weapons and even porn, all tools of violence.

"We are all familiar with the more egregious individual examples (of) physical and sexual violence, but we are sometimes oblivious to the fact that collectively, we are a violent society," Archie said.

Source: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/CJ_Archie__T_T_a_violent_society-197243591.html

Rape, Incest Rampant in Central Trinidad

 

Rape, incest rampant in Central Trinidad

Story Created: Mar 11, 2013 at 9:56 PM ECT

Story Updated: Mar 12, 2013 at 8:50 PM ECT 

  

'stiffer penalties': Chief Justice Ivor Archie speaks to attorney

Dana Seetahal SC during yesterday's "Violence Against Children"

conference at Hyatt Regency in Port of Spain.

Photo: ISHMAEL SALANDY

There have been more than 200 reported cases of incest, rape and sexual abuse for the year to date in Central Trinidad.

Last year, Central Trinidad also recorded the highest number of reported cases of rape, incest and sexual abuse in Trinidad and Tobago.

The statistics were revealed yesterday by Margaret Sampson-Browne, director of the Police Service Victim and Witness Support Unit, at the "Violence Against Children" conference at Hyatt Regency in Port of Spain.

"We have had almost 800 clients coming to us from central...including Chaguanas, Couva, and those outlining areas in central.

"It is now quite evident that child abuse is becoming rampant in our country," she added, noting that the children of the nation are under attack by sexual predators, who must be jailed.

"The reality is the adult men use their penis on little children— anal sex, oral sex and vaginal sex and it's happening," said Sampson-Browne, who stressed the need to "design a social network, a crisis management information service, so in a crisis like this people shouldn't wonder where I have to go...people should just fall in to work with them".

She said the Children's Authority Act has no impact on the criminals.

Senior Counsel Dana Seetahal also agreed.

She said if you neglect a child by suffocating the child to death, under the Children's Authority Act, the criminal, if given a summary offence, is fined $5,000 or six months' imprisonment.

"The act talks about burning of children negligently, but you know what I think about that...the penalty for that is $400.

"Also if a child is injured, so much so that the child loses sight, hearing or a limb...the law states that for summary offences, the perpetrator can be fined $5,000 or six months' imprisonment. However, under the Offences against a Person Act, the perpetrator can get life imprisonment.

"I had to go to Toco...a father and a son sexually abused the child, the community turned against her, the grandmother turned against her...she had to go by a friend," said Seetahal.

Both Sampson-Browne and Seetahal are calling for the Children's Authority Act to be re-visited and for stiffer penalties to be enforced.

Sampson-Browne noted that they have already submitted a proposal to acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams for a children's task force. She said police officers who are a part of this force will receive special training. —TV6 News

Source: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Rape__incest_rampant_in_Central_Trinidad-197243601.html

Children are Victims and Perpetrators

 
CJ: Children are victims and perpetrators

Tuesday, March 12 2013

CHILDREN are direct and indirect victims as well as perpetrators of violence, Chief Justice Ivor Archie declared yesterday at a Violence Against Children conference at the Hyatt Regency in Port-of-Spain, warning that if the trend is left uncorrected, the future of the country would be bleak.

Archie also warned that the “devastating and long-term” impact of violence against children should not be underestimated as any form of violence can undermine a child’s development. “WHO (World Health Organisation) analysis also concludes that all violence against children, especially child maltreatment occurring in the first decade of life, is both a problem in itself and a major risk factor for other forms of violence and health problems throughout a person’s life,” Archie said, noting that depression, alcohol and drug abuse, suicide attempts and post traumatic stress disorders, are just some results. Archie stated that the country is in the grip of unprecedented violence, but the fact that there was violence in every country is not an excuse. He said the country continues to wait until violence occurs before putting a plan in place but there is evidence some types of violence are preventable.

He noted when the country’s first Prime Minister Dr Eric Williams said, “The future of our nation lies in our children’s book bags”, he did not mean as receptacles of weapons or pornography. Archie said the Family Court, the pilot Drug Treatment Court and the proposed Youth Court are ways in which the Judiciary is attempting to deal with some of these situations, by making the process more child-friendly and protecting the children of abuse from being further victimised by the stress of legal proceedings.

In the Family court, officers were encouraged to use less technical language and the courtrooms are more intimate. In the Drug Treatment and Youth Courts there would be special processes for children. For example, children would be insulated from harsh examination in court, they would not be openly accused of lying, the adjudicator would sentence a child in a way that would bring true reform. He said he believed some sentences were archaic, and would increase the likelihood of the child returning to criminal activity. Also speaking at the conference, attorney Dana Seetahal SC, opined that the police are not treating with the issue of child abuse appropriately and are taking the easy way out.

“Regrettably, in relation to some offences against children, they (the police) are proceeding under the Children Act when they should really go for the Offences Against the Person Act, where the penalties are a little more serious. At least the authorities should amend the Children Act, increase the penalties and also make special provisions for prosecution,” Seetahal suggested. Giving an example, she said in a case of a parent burning their children as a form of punishment, under the Children Act, there is a specific penalty of $400. However, under the Offences Against the Person Act, the penalty could be five to 15 years imprisonment.

She was also dismissive of the Children’s Authority of Trinidad and Tobago’s ability to effect change in its present state. “I haven’t heard anything effective coming from that Children’s Authority. We have the legislation and the (Children) Act says, under the Children’s Authority that a child would be a person under 18. No other piece of legislation defines that age. Nobody is making a move to proclaim the 2000 (amended) Children’s Act. I think the Children’s Authority, how they are operating right now, in my view, are a waste of time,” she stated. (See Page 17A)

Source: http://www.newsday.co.tt/crime_and_court/0,174688.html

Woman Still Not Equal

 
Woman still not equal

By CAROL MATROO Monday, March 11 2013

Political analyst Dr Indira Rampersad, speaking at the Network of Non-Governmental

Organisations of Trinidad and Tobago For The Advancement of Women’s Annual Tea at Capital Plaza, Port-of-Spain, on the weekend, said women are still underemployed and underpaid in the workplace. International Women’s Day was celebrated last Friday.

She said women remain disproportionately under-represented in the employed labour force, were overly represented in the unemployed labour force, and still overlooked for promotions at which they are paid less than their male colleagues in all areas.

Rampersad said globally women’s education had fallen and the violence against them had gotten worse. She said women faced horrifying abuse and health risks, including sexual exploitation and genital mutilation.

Rampersad said that in Africa alone, 101 million women have undergone female genital mutilation. She said according to the United Nations, over 2.5 million people were trafficked every year with 43 percent used for sexual exploitation, of which 98 percent are women and girls.

She said although child marriage has been outlawed in most countries, enforcement is so poor that more than 60 million girls under the age of 18 are married to men twice their age or older.

She added that one in three women on the planet would be raped, beaten or assaulted in their lifetime.

“People may ask what are we celebrating? We are celebrating the achievements of women around the world and their increasing participation in social and political involvement, and phenomenal attainment of female suffrage. Together we are celebrating the momentum we have gained... the greater number of women in the boardroom, greater equality especially in areas dominated by our male counterparts.

“We are also celebrating the increase in female politicians nationally and internationally, including our own Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the first female Prime Minister of this Republic,” she said.

Rampersad said we also needed to celebrate the fact that women today could make choices, work and have families while performing multiple other tasks. She noted though, that a recently released CSO 2011 (TT) revealed that while males outnumbered females at secondary school level, females outnumbered males at tertiary level, because it was most phenomenol that most girls were enrolling in universities.

She said an increasing number of women in tertiary education suggested that males have realised that they had not achieved higher education in the same way as they female counterparts, and they (women) were more employable in the labour market.

“So, what happens when they can’t find employment? This is the crisis that our country has been going through. They turn to crime. Crime in TT has two dominant factors–the drug/gang factor and domestic violence,” she said.

Source: http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,174669.html

Anti-Abuse Laws To Get Tougher

Ramdial on International Women's Day:

By Ria Taitt Political Editor

Story Created: Mar 8, 2013 at 9:57 PM ECT

Story Updated: Mar 9, 2013 at 4:26 PM ECT 

 

The Domestic Violence Act is being reviewed to bring it into line with international best practice, Minister in the Ministry of Gender Affairs Ramona Ramdial said yesterday.

In a statement to Parliament on International Women's Day, Ramdial said the Ministry of Gender, Youth and Child Development, "which is very capably led by Senator Marlene Coudray", was planning a year-long campaign, which started yesterday, which would focus on the varied roles, issues and concerns related to women.

She said several pieces of legislation were being reviewed, including the Domestic Violence Act.
Ramdial said within some communities and families in Trinidad and Tobago, women were being subjected to some form of violence or abuse, adding that many remain silent, afraid of the consequences of revealing the truth.

"We as parliamentarians and as women must not allow these crimes to go unreported or to persist. We also have a responsibility to socialise our boys and men to treat girls and women as equals, with dignity and respect," she said.

However, she noted the country had an admirable track record and enviable reputation internationally with regard to promoting the rights of women and girls. "We must not allow violence targeting our women to tarnish this reputation," Ramdial stated.

Stating in its 50 years of independence, Trinidad and Tobago could be justly proud of its many female heroes and icons in areas of sport, culture, academia, literature, public and social service, politics and the creative industries, Ramdial said she was inviting every parliamentarian to continue to work and support the civil society network in order to stop the violence against women and girls.

In his statement, Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley said Trinidad and Tobago had witnessed its fair share of grotesque headlines and stories of violence perpetrated against its women.

"We of the PNM (People's National Movement) hold to the principle of gender equality. We abhor violence of any sort and especially so when it is directed at women and children. We do not believe 'it's a man's world'. We believe that men and women should be equal under the law and that the contributions of all women in the development of Trinidad and Tobago should be revered and appreciated," he said.

Source: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Anti-abuse_laws_to_get_tougher-196633241.html

Govt Backs NGOs to Fight Violence Against Women

Published: Saturday, March 9, 2013

Kalifa Clyne

Pastor Joyce Duncan, left, founder of the Nekevah Centre

For Battered Women, accepts an award from Gender

Minister Marlene Coudray at an International Women’s

Day awards ceremony hosted by the ministry at the

Centre of Excellence, Macoya, yesterday.

PHOTO: ABRAHAM DIAZ

The Ministry of Gender Affairs is leading the efforts to ensure “sustainable support and provision” for T&T and the Caribbean’s first sextuplets, says line minister Marlene Coudray. She said so yesterday while speaking at a brunch and award ceremony to commemorate International Women’s Day at the Centre of Excellence, Macoya.

“Our family services have visited the family and we have been approaching different agencies as well as ministries for support,” Coudray said. However, she said she could not give specifics as to what kind of help would be given. Coudray also pledged Government’s further support to NGOs to fight violence against women and children. “We have a project to be launched soon with United Nations women to train key persons, such as policemen, to deal with women,” Coudray said.

She said whenever women went to report abuse to the police, they were not treated seriously. “Another hotline is being developed so people can have more access to help,” she said. At yesterday’s award ceremony, 11 NGOs, including shelters and halfway houses, received awards. “The recipients of these awards provided a place of shelter for women and girls in abusive situations,” Coudray said.

“Government cannot allow such extraordinary work to go unrecognised.” She said the Government was committed to the eradication of violence against women and girls but could not do it alone. “We need every one of you, whether organisations or individuals to play your part. Ending violence is not an option but a priority to us all.” She said T&T had a major problem with young girls getting pregnant, then being abandoned by the fathers of their children.

“Fathers abandon these girls, refuse to maintain the children and then families have to resort to the legal system to get support. Some of these girls choose to abandon school and their education,” she said. Coudray said the society had a responsibility to change this cycle. “These men impregnate minors. This is a crime and it is abuse. Where is the response of the authorities?

“We must take the lead and make these men responsible for their actions.” She said the ministry had submitted proposals on early marriage to the Ministry of Legal Affairs.

Source:  http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2013-03-09/govt-backs-ngos-fight-violence-against-women