TRINI KILLED IN N.Y.

Story Created: Sep 22, 2013 at 2:35 AM ECT

Story Updated: Sep 22, 2013 at 2:55 AM ECT

Tonight a manhunt is one for a killer in New York City. The victim? a woman from Trinidad and Tobago.

According to reports, a woman fled this country after being constantly abused by a man she was involved with. She then found another lover in New York, and police believe that relationship ultimately led to the woman's death. 

Source: http://www.tv6tnt.com/home/rotator/---TRINI-KILLED-IN-NY----2755----224749952.html

Trini Woman Shot Dead in New York

A Trinidadian woman who migrated to New York to escape an abusive relationship was shot dead by her estranged lover in the West Indian community in Brooklyn. Sellis Gonzales, 44, the mother of two, was killed instantly. The killer sent her daughters on an errand to a nearby eatery before he committed the act. 


In a telephone interview yesterday from Brooklyn, Kirt Gonzales, the brother of the dead woman, said for women to stay in an abusive relationship on the premise that the man will change only results in more pain and even worse, death. He said his sister was shot six times around 8.45 pm on Wednesday. A report from the New York Daily Mail said Sellis’ daughters Khadija, 15, and Alyssa, five, were given $8 by the killer to get food at a nearby chicken eatery.


When they got back some 15 minutes later, they found their mother motionless on the floor. She had been shot three times in the head and midsection, police sources told the newspaper. The Daily Mail said police identified Sallis’ ex-boyfriend as Eric McCormick, 40, who remained at large yesterday. Sellis moved to Brownsville, Brooklyn, when she was 31, as a result of trying circumstances.

“My sister’s second baby’s father used to also abuse her and when I found out I immediately told her to pack her bags and I sent a ticket for her. I wanted her out of that situation. I wanted her to have a better life and to get away from the abuse,” Gonzales said. He never thought his sister would again end up in another abusive relationship. Relatives, he said, tried “many times” to coax Sallis to end the relationship with the suspect but she did not take heed.

“I guess it was just a matter of dating the wrong guy. My mom and I spoke to my sister many, many times,” Gonzales said. “She wanted to let go but she couldn’t. I think it’s really a matter of women having respect for themselves and to demand that respect from the person they are with.” Despite the abuse he never thought his sister would be killed. “I mean she was shot six times. I thought it would be a black-and-blue eye but I never thought she would be killed. I was not expecting death,” he added.

He said he intended to apply for legal custody of his nieces. Urging women to immediately “walk away” when they spot the first sign of abuse, Gonzales said the message must be spread that women must not be subjected to any type of abuse, whether physical, mental or emotional.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2013-09-21/trini-woman-shot-dead-new-york

Man Tries To Kill Woman

By CECILY ASSON Thursday, September 19 2013

A DAY after a 47-year-old security guard was released after being arrested for allegedly raping his estranged 30-year-old common-law wife whom he had handcuffed, the man returned to the woman’s La Brea home and attempted to kill her with a cutlass.

He was rearrested yesterday and remains in custody at the La Brea Police Station. The mother of four, was chopped on her left palm. She was treated and discharged from hospital. On Tuesday, Newsday was told, the suspect was released from custody on the instruction of a senior officer in South Western Division.

Police have in their possession, a pair of handcuffs which the man used to restrain the woman as he raped her. The couple were separated for the past two months after the relationship began last November.

Following threats to her life and that of her children, the woman three weeks ago moved in with one of her siblings.

According to police, at about 2.30 pm on Monday, the woman was at home watching television when she was attacked by the man who entered the house armed with a cutlass. The man handcuffed the woman and then raped her. He then left the house.

The suspect was arrested shortly after but was ordered released by a First Division officer even as investigations were ongoing. At 12.10 am yesterday, the man returned to his victim’s home and chopped her. He has since been held and is in custody.

Yesterday, the frightened woman told Newsday she cannot understand why police allowed her attacker to be released after he raped her. “I am even more terrified now because I don’t know what will happen. They might set him free a second time. I am going into hiding.

He is always threatening to kill me and my children,” the woman cried.

Checks with police last night revealed that the man was still in custody and charges are expected to be laid against him soon.

A senior police source said that an investigation would be launched into the claim that a policeman had ordered the suspect released. 

Source: http://www.newsday.co.tt/crime_and_court/0,183860.html

Reasons Why Women Stay

Experts look at domestic abuse...

By Camille Bethel camille.bethel@trinidadexpress.com

Story Created: Sep 15, 2013 at 10:08 PM ECT

Story Updated: Sep 16, 2013 at 11:45 AM ECT

Diana Mahabir-Wyatt

There are several reasons why people in abusive domestic situations choose to stay, experts say.

Chair of the Coalition Against Domestic Violence Diana Mahabir-Wyatt spoke to the Express on what she believes are the most prominent reasons.

“Number one is very often because of children. If you have children in the union very often the parents decide not to split up for one reason or another because they think it will distress the children. In many cases it is worse for the children to live in an environment of stress, tension and violence in which they are learning violence as an interactive response,” she said.

She also highlighted the lack of finance as another reason that makes it difficult for the abused to leave such a situation.

“They can’t afford to both look after the children and go to work. If the children are around the age of two or four, many women for example are left without a ready income that will allow them child care because they don’t have adequate State child-care for children under the age of three.

“If you have to work, you can’t take your children to work with you and that is the most frequently given reason by women with children under the age of three, why they can’t leave,” she said.

Mahabir-Wyatt said in some cases if they have a parent or a relative who is willing to take them in until they can get a job and they can support the children that takes considerable amounts of money as well.

“If you have children and you have to have reliable child care, food, clothes, transport, medical care...for many that is just impossible.

“So many decide to stay, face what they have to face until the children are old enough for school and they just have to live with it...there are women like that.”

Asked whether fear also keeps women in abusive relations she said it can and does happen.

“It happens with human trafficking very frequently and that’s one of the big issues that we are now dealing with—human trafficking either for domestic employment or for sexual transactions and in some cases you hear stories of women from other countries like Jamaica or DR (Dominican Republic) having their passports taken away and provided with a room at the back, and are told they will have to work until their tickets are paid off. They stay because they are intimidated, they are frightened.

“In the case of domestic violence, we have had cases, now less frequent, because women are now more educated,” she said.

Mahabir-Wyatt said women who have family support in some instances are scared to leave because there are threats to siblings and parents that if they don’t stay away then they are going to get beaten or threatened in some other way.

“It is not always physical. Sometimes people stay because they get so accustomed to the bullying that they are paralysed. In those instances it would usually be a parent or a close friend who will help them to get their act to together to go on,” she pointed out.

She said they are seeing a reduction in the number of educated women staying in abusive relationships, adding that if a woman being abused does not report the abusive situation, then a stranger shouldn’t take it upon themselves to do so, because women resent that.

Psychologist Dr Krishna Maharaj also spoke with the Express on some of the reasons women decide to stay.

“Many times you have a situation where the lack of family or community support obliges the woman for economic reasons to continue in those relationships because it is difficult for her to have a real opportunity to get out because she is alone.

“Another reason cited has been some women feel a sense of loyalty, they feel they have the ability or the power to change and transform this individual who may be expressing violence and hostility. Maybe because of their developmental history that was negative and may have impacted on their development into adulthood in such a way that they are not really responsible. Women consider that kind of history and feel a sense of duty to try and rehabilitate or help the partner overcome their pattern of hostility and abuse,” he said.

Maharaj said a lesser reason would include the religious indoctrination that when people take a vow “for better or for worse” and abuse occurs they feel it is part of the lessons in life that they must endure...they must stick it out.

Maharaj said there is also the issue of threat that the abuser may say to the victim, “If you leave I will hunt you down, I will find you and I will do mean, awful things to you”.

“Although not many of them who make those threats have the ability to carry them out, many of them realise they don’t need to carry out the threat because verbal threats are enough,” he reasoned.

He said mothers also make the sacrifice to stay for the children because they don’t want a situation where she may have to split the family, take some of the children and jeopardise their future.

Maharaj said when the time comes for a person to make the decision to leave an abusive relationship it is like a case of substance abuse.

“If they don’t have insight, they can’t. One must be aware ‘I don’t have to take this nonsense anymore because I know I can get help’ but if they don’t recognise this or the support systems are not there in the society, then women will continue to stay in abusive relationships,” he pointed out.

Maharaj said depression steps in when abuse continues and may find the victim withdrawing from the family.

“They lose their self-esteem, their self-respect and may even abuse drugs secretly,” he noted.

He said signs that a woman is moving towards getting out of an abusive relationship is she may begin to discuss it with people, either in a religious setting, with neighbours or relatives and then they may begin reaching out to external support systems for help, like counselling, and later start making plans to move out of the situation.

However he pointed out there is also something called the Stockholm syndrome where the victim begins to identify with the abuser that may keep that person in the situation.

“Where instead of fighting the aggressor she begins to identify with the abuser and makes excuses for him,” Maharaj said. 

 

Source: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Reasons-why-women-stay-223852341.html

Editorial: Domestic violence remains too prevalent and puzzling

September 08, 2013 @ 10:00 PM

The Herald-Dispatch

America has made a lot of progress on the domestic violence front over the past few decades.

Statistics show that incidents of "intimate partner violence" -- incidents between spouses, ex-spouses or partners -- declined almost 64 percent between 1994 and 2010, according to the Department of Justice. More intervention, shelters and better policing all have helped to bring those numbers down.

But that is of little consolation to the families and friends of a man and his ex-wife found shot to death in his East Pea Ridge home last weekend. Investigators are still piecing together what happened between the two Saturday night, saying only that evidence indicates it was an incident of violence between the two parties and that a single firearm was found.

Friends and family members were shocked and shaken by the deaths. They acknowledge the two had had their ups and downs, but no one had seen or suspected any pattern of aggression or violence.

But that can be part of the tragedy of domestic violence. Help is available, but this still very prevalent problem is one too often unforeseen or shrouded by silence.

Even the most conservative estimates show that about 600,000 women and 100,000 men are victims of intimate partner violence each year, accounting for about 30 percent of the murders among women. But those numbers are just the tip of the iceberg, because much of the violence is never reported. The Center for Disease Control estimates that as many as 12 million women and men could be victims of some type of violence or stalking each year.

While domestic violence initiatives have increased both locally and nationally, experts say that there is still much to learn about the signs of serious violence and strategies that can help prevent it. Although about three-fourths of Americans say they know someone who has been the victim of domestic violence, for most of us, it remains an unpredictable puzzle.

One promising national initiative is working to pull together data on this type of violence from across the country. Eighteen states are now reporting to the National Violent Death Reporting System operated by the CDC.

Researchers hope that by gathering more information and looking at factors such as family histories and dynamics and social and economic conditions, they can develop and implement better strategies to prevent violence in the home.

Ohio is now participating in the program, and that is something officials in West Virginia and Kentucky should consider as well.

Source: http://www.herald-dispatch.com/opinions/x1986655719/Editorial-Domestic-violence-remains-too-prevalent-and-puzzling

Health, Crime Issues High on Needs List for Women

Health, crime issues high on needs list for women

By Tiffanie Drayton Sunday, September 8 2013

Women shop for bargains on Charlotte Street, Port-of-Spain yesterday. ...

Women are seldom the focus of the national budget despite society’s growing economic dependency on them as not only primary child caretakers, but also, in many cases, the sole household breadwinners.

Not having many expectations about the Government’s ability to effect change or provide assistance have led to many women becoming jaded when it comes to discussing their needs but still they hope someone might heed their cries for help.

“Right now, as a woman, I work like a man,” said Jackie Garraway a 36-year-old clothing store attendant, “Whatever they (the Government) do, you still have to work hard to make ends meet.” Garraway, who has two school-aged children and describes herself as an “almost” single parent, believes one of the biggest unaddressed women’s issues is the need for better healthcare, especially in the maternity wards of the country’s public hospitals.

“The service at the hospital is terrible,” she said,”You could die or have a baby right there before someone even come over to help you.”

Other women have similar concerns. Nikisia Drayton, an expectant mother, worries that the country’s public medical facilities are underperforming and putting patients’ lives in danger. “I have a friend who has had a lump in her breasts for about two months now and they keep pushing her surgery date back. They don’t even know if it is cancer or not,” she said.

Violence is also a major concern for many women who fear that their families may be caught in the crossfires of the gun violence plaguing communities such as in East Port of Spain.

The pressing issue of crime has been addressed in previous budgets with very little to no progress made in decreasing the nation’s crime-related deaths. As of 2013, the murder rate continues to be driven by gang and drug-related activity, despite last year’s concerted effort to crack down on crime. Crimes related to sexual assault and domestic abuse have also been on the rise. Since 2008, there has been a steady uptick in sexual offenses from 692 to 1,020 in 2012.

“There was a time when everybody felt safe walking down the streets, but now I feel like if I always have to look over my shoulder to make sure I’m safe,” said Candice Greaves, another working mother.

Although social issues are the points of interest for most women, for others, the concern is economics.

One woman, a small business-owner on Charlotte Street who didn’t want to be named, believes the Government has unfair sanctions that hurt people like herself.

“Small businesses are being treated real badly,” she said, “The Government charges us VAT for any merchandise we buy to sell, but when we look to sell it, we cannot charge customers VAT and that’s not fair.”

The new budget may address some of these issues indirectly, but many feel legislation should be drafted that specifically targets the needs of women, as well as the community at large.

“Trinidad needs to make its women a priority because we are doing everything these days: we are working in and out of the home and many of us looking to start our own businesses. We need all the support we can get,” Miss Garrison urged.

Source: http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,183327.html

Economic Abuse

Economic abuse

By SANDRINE RATTAN Tuesday, August 27 2013

Often, the term domestic violence evokes images of physical abuse. However, many women also experience an equally devastating situation - economic abuse. Economic abuse can include an abuser preventing victims from working and accessing bank accounts, credit cards, among other isolating tactics. Financial security is the number one predictor or whether or not a victim of domestic violence will become free so as to avoid abuse.

For many domestic violence victims, access to financial, housing, and other community resources can make the difference between long-term stability versus return to batterers or homelessness.

The lack of economic independence for many domestic violence survivors have created its own challenges. More challenging is the fact that, batterers may leave abuse victims saddled with debt, through unpaid rent and utility bills.

Compounding these challenges, the cycle of abuse often interferes with victims’ ability to obtain sustainable employment, even for those who have education and/or work experience. Batterers interfere with a victim’s ability to work in many ways.

Other severe types of economic abuse include the batterer forcing the victim(s) to turn over her pay cheques to him; purposely ruining the woman’s credit rating; incurring large debts without the victim’s knowledge, but for which she may be held responsible; taking her money; credit cards or other property without her knowledge. Despite the serious consequences of economic abuse for survivors, though, the general public may not be totally aware of the extent to which these situations occur and/or exist, and therefore, this column will continue to create a larger sense of awareness as it relates to the very negative impact of domestic violence on humankind.


SANDRINE RATTAN is a Communications Specialist who has also studied Psychology/Environmental Relationships and Sociology.

Source: http://www.newsday.co.tt/features/0,182810.html

Saved from Domestic Violence

Saved from domestic violence

By JULIEN NEAVES Thursday, August 15 2013

WHAT would you do to help save a victim of domestic violence?

This was likely a question on the minds of the attendees of the Police Service annual Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations, held yesterday at the Police Administration Building, Port-of-Spain, as Police Service head of human resource, Veronica Simon, told of a family assisted by two Islamic women to get “out of a horrible domestic violence situation.”

She explained that the woman was a visiting student from one of the islands and got in a relationship with a young Trinidadian man “who began to whisper sweet nothings in her ears.” She forgot about her scholarship, went to live with him and had six children in six years.

“But the abuse began from the day the first child was born,” Simon recalled.

One night “in a reign of terror” he brandished a cutlass to cut off her head but she was rescued when her children jumped on top of her to save her. The police did not have a case against him and had to release him in 24 hours and a group of women were called in to assist, including two from the Islamic organisation Anjuman Sunnatul Jammat Association (ASJA).

The police got a home for her in South but then a taxi driver who was a friend of her common-law husband saw her and she had to be moved again. After that incident she decided to return to her island with her children because she feared for her life.

“And those children stayed for three months until we got them out of Trinidad. And we got them out at two o’clock in the morning and these two ladies were with me,” Simon said.

She noted that the assistance did not stop there and even after the family left the country the two women sent money for them to get settled back home. She reported yesterday that two of the six children are at university. Simon noted that the two women had “practised what they preached.”

“It was a way of life for them to give alms, to do good, to do things,” she said.

She asked rhetorically, “What do we do as a way of life, as a people? Do we do good, do we put ourselves out like these two ladies did?”

She noted Islam teaches that Allah loves those who perform good deeds and these women performed good deeds.

Source: http://www.newsday.co.tt/crime_and_court/0,182238.html

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‘The Long Term Effects of Domestic Violence’

‘The Long Term Effects of Domestic Violence’

By SANDRINE RATTAN Tuesday, August 13 2013

The long term effects of domestic violence have not begun to be fully documented by the many advocates against domestic violence, but what is known, is that victims of violence are psychologically damaged for a lifetime…changes occur in their thought processes; approach to life and attitude towards people in general.

In fact, the emotional and psychological abuse inflicted by batterers may be more costly to treat with in the short-term than physical injury.

There are various pieces of psychological research which show that many of the physical injuries sustained by women seem to cause medical challenges as women grow older. Arthritis, hypertension and heart disease have been identified by battered women as directly caused or aggravated by domestic violence.

Because of the severity of the effects of domestic violence, women need to pay more attention to the types of relationship in which they find themselves, as abusive relationships equate to DEATH??

Battered women lose their jobs because of absenteeism, which is usually due to illness as a result of violence.

Lengthy periods of absence from the job, occasioned by court appearances, also jeopardize and ruin women’s livelihood.

Victims also lose family and friends as a result of the violence….first, the batterer isolates the victims from their loved ones, and this in turn creates embarrassment for the victims and their (the victims) response is withdrawal from support persons.

There is yet another major challenge which victims are faced with – abandonment by their church, if they decide to separate from the abusers, since some r%eligious doctrines prohibit separation or divorce regardless of the severity of abuse.

Many battered women have had to forego financial security during divorce proceedings to avoid further abuse. As a result, they become impoverished as they grow older??

Domestic Violence is indeed a very bitter pill to swallow, and I do hope that through the publication of this column on a bi-weekly basis, women (whether or not they’re abused) become more enlightened and by extension, more empowered, to effectively address any domestic issue(s) which may be deemed to be violent.

Sandrine Rattan is a Communications Specialist who has also studied Psychology/Environmental Relationships and Sociology.

Source: http://www.newsday.co.tt/features/0,182160.html

Workshop Tackles Gender Violence

One in three women worldwide affected...

By Verdel Bishop

Story Created: Aug 6, 2013 at 9:12 PM ECT

Story Updated: Aug 7, 2013 at 12:15 PM ECT 

 

Globally, one in three women worldwide will experience gender-based violence in her lifetime, and in some countries, up to 70 per cent of the female population is affected. 

These statistics were yesterday revealed by Margaret Diop, US Embassy Charge d Affaires, who was at the time speaking at a Domestic and Gender-based Violence and Physical and Sexual Abuse workshop, which was organised by Caribbean American Domestic Violence Awareness (CADVA), at the US Embassy Conference Room, Briar Place, Sweet Briar Road in Port of Spain. 

“According to the United Nations, all Caribbean countries have higher than the global average for rape. These statistics make clear that addressing domestic violence is not just a moral imperative. It is an economic necessity.  In addition to the psychological and emotional tolls we pay, we also pay the medical bills and legal costs. We lose wages and productivity. Businesses lose employees. Families lose primary wage-earners. In short, we simply cannot afford to let gender-based violence continue,” Diop said. 

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a violation of human rights and a form of discrimination. It is defined as violence that is directed against a person on the basis of gender. Gender-based violence reflects and reinforces inequalities between men and women. Gender-based violence and violence against women are often used interchangeably as most gender-based violence is inflicted by men on women and girls.

Diop said the US recognises gender-based violence as both a human rights and public health policy concern.  “The US Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act in 1994 to protect victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.  
  
“The Act provides US$1.6 billion for the 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. 

“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 to combat domestic violence,” Diop said.

Justice Joseph Tam said allegations of sexual abuse against children have increased. Lack of expert evidence, he said, continues to be an issue and noted that lack of expert evidence is an issue.    

“The family court deals with these cases as quickly as we can but the other courts are not suited to deal with these things because they are overwhelmed. Over the past few years I have noticed that allegations of sexual abuse against children have increased. 

“I am getting more of these cases and the difficulty is that as a magistrate you have to depend on the evidence before you and the quality of the evidence is the problem. We don’t have expert evidence in this area. We are not researched in these areas because very often physical evidence is non-existent, medical evidence is inconclusive and it breaks down to one party’s word against the other,” Tam said.

Diana Mahabir-Wyatt, chair of the Trinidad and Tobago Coalition Against Domestic Violence described the court system as combative. 

“Those in the legal system must be trained in how to talk to children. There are mothers who will not take their daughters to court and there are men who are the perpetrators who get away free all the time because neither the women nor their children who are victims want to have to face the court system,” Mahabir-Wyatt said. 

“There is a depression having to face the court; those in the legal systems need to be exposed to ongoing training,” she said.

Victim and Witness Support Unit manager, Margaret Sampson-Browne said often times emphasis is placed on protection of women and reminded workshop participants that the Domestic Violence Act is also for men. There are men who are of the opinion that the Domestic Violence Act is made by women for women but it’s not,” Sampson-Browne said. 

Dianne Madray from CADVA facilitated an interactive workshop in which various interest groups which attended included social workers, counsellors and members of the legal system. Madray focused on signs of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as it relates to domestic violence and the impact on the victim’s mental health and discussed the signs and symptoms of PTSD. 

Source: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Workshop-tackles--gender-violence-218610641.html

Woman Held After Man Stabbed to Death

Woman held after man stabbed to death

By CECILY ASSON Saturday, August 3 2013

SHOCKED: Marjorie Jagroop yesterday as she related how a female neighbour told her on Thursday night that she (the woman) had just stabbed a man to de...

A 50-YEAR-OLD woman has been arrested after she allegedly confessed to stabbing a man and killing him on Thursday night. Police said that Franklyn Gibson of Settlement 1, Ecclesville in Rio Claro was found dead with stab wounds to his neck and chest at the muddy entrance leading to his home.

Investigators said a woman was found weeping and sitting next to Gibson’s body when police arrived. She was taken into custody after allegedly telling police that she had stabbed Gibson. The woman, police said, appeared to be intoxicated and told officers that she and Gibson were in an altercation when she stabbed him.

According to a police report, at about 8.30 pm on Thursday, Sgt Doodhai, Cpl Dwarika and PC Flores of the Rio Claro Police Station went to Settlement 1, after receiving a report. The officers observed a woman weeping next to Gibson’s body.

Villagers told police that the couple earlier in the afternoon were seen liming at a bar where they joined other patrons for an Emancipation Day lime. The woman and Gibson left the bar and returned to their home.

The woman was later seen screaming and crying as she paced along a road near Gibson’s home.

She later told neighbour Marjorie Jagroop what had happened and asked Jagroop to contact the police.

Jagroop, 50, who only got to know Gibson and the woman when they moved into the area about four months ago told Newsday she was still in a state of shock over what happened. “They only moved here about four months ago and told me they were from La Romaine,” Jagroop said. “I hardly knew them but what I can say is that the man was a quiet, nice person. While you would hear her mouth you heard nothing from him,” Jagroop said

On Monday night, Jagroop said rain was falling when she heard someone crying outside. “I saw the woman dressed in a bra and pants with her phone in her hand. She was crying. I invited her to come out the rain because I thought she and the man had a quarrel and she was afraid to go back home. She said to me, ‘Marjorie call the police I just stabbed him in the neck’. She sounded real confused as she talked to me,” Jagroop said.

“After she talked to me she went and sat down by the man’s body until the police came and found her there waiting for them,” Jagroop said. Cpl Ramsahai is continuing investigations.

Source: http://www.newsday.co.tt/crime_and_court/0,181665.html

Facebook produces booklet to help domestic abuse survivors use the website

Even as Twitter is struggling to make a statement against trolls threatening feminists with rape and violence, Facebook has come out with a document guiding survivors of domestic abuse on using the social network.

Facebook has partnered with the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) to come up with a Privacy and Safety on Facebook booklet called “A guide for survivors of abuse”. The nine-page booklet enlists ways and methods victims of domestic abuse can use to keep their privacy protected on Facebook.

The social networking website says that the guide is aimed at helping survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking learn their way around Facebook and remain safe. It will help make sure that while victims manage to remain connected with their family and friends, they can stay away from their account being misused by abusers, stalkers and perpetrators.

Facebook tells you how to ensure your privacy and safety online

Facebook believes that victims should be able to live a healthy social life despite the fear of abusers. “Telling a victim to go offline to be safe is not only unacceptable, it further isolates her from people who love her. Our role, as advocates, professionals, friends, and family, is to make sure that survivors know the options to maintain their safety. That’s the empowering strategy – helping survivors take back the control that abusers have tried to steal from their lives,” says Cindy Southworth of NNEDV.

The guide goes on to elaborate how to review privacy settings to ensure that perpetrators are locked out of the profile and only the right people have access to personal details on the profile. Another important aspect outlined by the booklet talks about tightening security settings by setting up a security question, enabling details of logins and approval requirement. The guide could come in handy for not just victims of domestic abuse but also regular users of Facebook who put up details and images from their lives onto the social networking website regularly.

You can read through the guide, a great initiative by Facebook, here.

Source: http://tech2.in.com/news/social-networking/facebook-produces-booklet-to-help-domestic-abuse-survivors-use-the-website/909628

Save the Date: September 7, 2013

We are excited to announce that the Dragonfly Centre 

will again be part of the upcoming Women of Color Conference. 

You don't want to miss this exciting event.

 

Dad due to be charged with attempted murder of wife

Friday, July 26 2013

A 28-year-old father of two from St Helena is expected to be charged with the attempted murder of his common law wife.

The woman Talola Grannam is fighting for her life at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex where she has been warded since last Sunday. Grannam told police she has been a victim of domestic violence at the hands of the suspect.

According to reports, at about 6am last Sunday, the 26-year-old woman and the male relative got into altercation at their David Trace home, shortly after returning from a party. Grannam is a mother of two children . Police reports say the man struck the woman and she began arguing loudly with him when he pulled a cutlass and began chopping her repeatedly. The woman received chops to her head and face. One of her fingers was lost in the process and doctors reportedly told relatives, the young mother has lost the use of her left arm.

The suspect then fled the scene, but was held days later in Tunapuna by police and remains in police custody.

Sgt. Lalchan Gobin along with Cpl. Pierre of the Caroni police station visited the scene. Cpl. Pierre is continuing investigations .

Source: www.newsday.co.tt/crime_and_court/0,181282.html