6,200 Calls to Domestic Violence Hotline

By Darcel Choy Thursday, November 26 2015

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

On Eliminating Violence Against Women

By Barbara L. Shaw

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  

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The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

September 30, 2015

Presidential Proclamation -- National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, 2015

NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH, 2015

- - - - - - -

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

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

Age of sexual consent raised to 18

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

New offences

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

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

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

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

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

Sexual touching

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cuts To Domestic Violence Services Are Placing Victims In Danger

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Earlier interventions needed

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

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

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

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

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

CoP: Speak out against domestic violence

By: Shastri Boodan

Published: Tuesday, July 21, 2015

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CoP: No upsurge in crime

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Domestic violence

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

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

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

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

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

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

Domestic Violence Act Needs to be Ammended

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

Attorney Kevin Ratiram

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I am a survivor of DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Nester Flanders-Skeete

By Lorraine Waldropt-Ferguson

Story Created: Mar 20, 2015 at 8:59 PM ECT

Story Updated: Mar 20, 2015 at 8:59 PM ECT

Have you ever started watching a horror movie and you keep wondering when you will see the happy ending? Scenes that evoke an emotional onslaught of pain, hurt and despair. It seems like too much to digest. This is how I feel when domestic violence survivor/mentor, Nester Flanders-Skeete talks about her experiences in a violent relationship.

“It was licks like peas, both verbal and physical. I got married young, had my kids, but the domestic violence was a part of our lives from day one. I didn’t have anywhere to run. The beatings were terrible girl. Everyone knew but no one really reached out until later on. I remember running to my father and stepmother’s home once and them marching me back to my husband. ‘Yuh have to go back to yuh husband, that is where yuh belong!’, they said.” It became a cycle, my sons were young, I would get my licks, leave and then frustrated by nowhere and no one to turn to I would come back to the same situation. He was more than250 pounds; he used his size to intimidate me!”- remembers the mother of six.

The 52-year-old woman then scratches her head and begins another episode in her horror story-”I tuck away all these things girl, deep down in my head. I am digging them up to tell you. You see domestic violence victims try to forget the pain and suffering, tuck away the memories under the carpet but the truth is these things live with you, girl. Like one day my violator (then husband) was fixing the water heater and I turned it on by mistake. Well boy, I missed his cutlass swing by an inch. Like if I was in a trance. I just grab my children and run”.

“Did you return? I ask to which she laughs cynically. “You know how many times I leave and come back. The next thing I must tell you about battered women — we feel alone in the world. Is as if the world moving on and you just staying one place. In those days I was in my own bubble, I didn’t even know what was going on in the country or even in my village in Pointe-a-Pierre. All I know was I had to do everything possible to stay alive. Sometimes I wanted to kill him. Yes, ‘is either me or he have to dead’, I used to say until he silence me with some slaps and more and then the cycle started all over again,” the former Couva Junior Secondary School pupil enlightens.” Did you try to contact anybody at the Battered Women’s Association of Trinidad and Tobago or other help lines?- I am trying to decipher if she had enough options to leave the horrifying situation. “Hotline? In those days it didn’t have all the organisations and NGOs that exist today. All there was back then was Dateline, the TV Show. It was a Dateline show with former TV woman, Allison Hennessey, actually that made me realise that this situation wasn’t normal and that I should try to get out once and for all,” Flander-Skeete states.

That horror movie. As I listen to even more segments of violence, frustration and near-death attacks in this domestic violence survivor’s journal of experiences I realise why she stayed in the relationship for so long. Like many women in her situation she had no place to run to, no place to hide, no resources to make it on her own.

“I passed through hell on earth and I joined a Baptist Church and started building my spirituality brick by brick. By this time I had four children. And that was the thing, I had sexual issues too. I was raped at gunpoint when I was 18.” Wait, raped? It’s starting to feel like scenes from the movie Texas Chainsaw Massacre again. And then she inserts the many times she tried to commit suicide, her heart problems and nervous breakdowns due to stress…

Ahhh! but after a few minutes my moment has come, the storyline begins turning around, the happy ending is coming. The saga continues- eventually, Flanders-Skeete decided enough was enough. An inkling of independence and a new purpose engulfed her as she enrolled as a security guard and made her ultimate move out of her abyss of domestic violence. “I moved out for good. I had become stronger to face my reality. Girl, I just get this drive from God to delete myself from the pain. I move out yes!”

Her children stayed with their dad, fatherhood was an art which he perfected, explained the former employee of Self-help for the Elderly. With time the new and improved Nester Flanders-Skeete sought the help she needed from various helplines which were now emerging in Trinidad. And, she met a new guy who treated her as a queen and gave her the support she badly needed. Soon her wounds began to heal. “Healing could not have taken place without my deep spirituality and the people I met who helped greatly in the later half. Girl, is my new love who really bring me out of it too. We used to just sit down and talk about life. Soon I start to come to terms with my bad past and healing started!”

But the real happy ending is brainchild NGO, Domestic Violence Survivors Reaching Out (DVSRO), an organisation which Flanders-Skeete founded three years ago. A group of domestic violence survivors, qualified personnel, and friends, coming together as the voice of the scared, silent and abused, DVSRO’s main focus is to stop the violence in homes, communities and schools. “This idea came to me because I wanted to be the voice for others, the voice I never had in my years of pain. Our mission is to reach out to the confused, misused, and abused in domestic violence. We want to open the eyes of those who are and could be potential victims. Identifying the red flags even before it happens, reducing the risk surrounding domestic violence and encouraging them to speak up and seek assistance; those are some of our goals. Breaking the silence and cycle, and identifying what is domestic violence and even the red flags by which it can be recognised are also real important in saving a woman who is being abused,” she declares.

Today she is the one many organisations turn to for help with domestic violence and other cases against. Through DVSRO, Flanders-Skeete also provides outreach, workshops, motivational talks and more to many communities in T&T. Her source of funding on many occasions are through fund-raisers such as barbeques but through her commitment and that of others on her team she is successful in carrying out her new purpose which is to save as many women as she can before it’s too late.

“Before its too late like what happened to Marcia Henville. She was a good friend of mine and someone who I referred my cases to at times,” sighs the vibrant leader on the death of media personality and activist, Marcia Henville. I sigh as well.

Very soon DVSRO will undertake a new initiative to build a Home for Battered Women. I acknowledge with awe the fact that Nester Flanders-Skeete’s plot has changed. I get my happy ending but it’s not just the perfect conclusion for my interview but the perfect SOS for many women out there in the midst of domestic violence and other social ills.

Source:  http://www.trinidadexpress.com/woman-magazine/I-am-a-survivor-of-297095171.html

Tackle domestic violence from early

Story Created: Mar 12, 2015 at 8:20 PM ECT

Story Updated: Mar 12, 2015 at 8:20 PM ECT 

 

 The Prime Minister’s recent pledge to strengthen laws to combat violence against women, in commemoration of International Women’s Day, is a well-intentioned yet lacklustre plan. Public policy can only go so far when there exists a crisis in our national mindset, and this announcement comes as simply another attempt to bandage a wound without actually getting to the root of the issue.

 

There is in fact a fundamental prob­lem with the way in which men view women in our society, and the measures proposed to address the national scourge of domestic violence merely scratch the surface. While it is undeniable women have visibly made their mark in fields such as education, media and commerce, touting their commendable achievements does not erase this underlying concern. 

 

The tragic case of Marcia Henville, a prominent and successful public figure whose life was allegedly cut short by her estranged husband, highlights the fact domestic abuse knows no limits. This is compounded by the results of a 2013 UNAIDS survey which revealed while most respondents considered domestic violence to be a problem in Trinidad and Tobago, one in seven men claimed it acceptable to beat their wife if she were unfaithful. Even more shocking is half of those surveyed believe a woman dressing provocatively could encourage a man to rape her. A man literally leading a woman along by a piece of rope is a clear reflection of what lies deep within part of our population’s psyche—that it is acceptable to dehumanise and objectify women. These examples are symptoms of a grim epidemic which demands an urgent and comprehensive response. 

Although the plan to implement “women city centres” is a positive initiative, it intends to undertake the matter from the wrong end. After all, prevention is better than cure, hence why these announcements appear to be nothing more than a half-hearted effort to better the lives of our nation’s women. 

 

If the Prime Minister and her Gov­ernment were truly committed to supporting policies which would benefit women, this plan would instead be directed towards tackling domestic abuse at its source, by introducing an educational scheme through which both males and females learn about gender equality from the youngest possible age.  

 

Providing information for females alone is pointless; these centres should also prioritise educating men on a national scale to ensure the universal understanding and appreciation for the rights of women. The solution must therefore be two-pronged, not only incorporating both sexes but also addressing the causes and consequences of violence against women. 

 

When all is said and done, the significant strides taken by our many female leaders in their respective industries are negated as long as women continue to be victims of abuse in public and in their own homes. The only way to see that this ends is to confront this problem from the ground up, rather than repeatedly suggesting the same misdirected approach. 

 

Shannon Miller

Leicester, England

 

Source: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/letters/Tackle-domestic-violence-from-early-296148501.html

Child witnesses parents’ murder/suicide: Abusive husband kills wife, self

Sascha Wilson

Published: Monday, March 9, 2015

Jessica Brereton, shot dead. Anil Lalmansingh, committed suicide.

As women across the world yesterday celebrated International Women’s Day, a Marabella family were grief-stricken after man killed his wife and himself in the presence of their five-year-old daughter. The murder/suicide has left the families of both Jessica Brereton, 34, and Anil Lalmansingh, 41, of South Oropouche, in shock as they were unaware that the couple was in a violent relationship. Lalmansingh shot Brereton dead before turning the gun on himself on Saturday night.

Police said around 9 pm, a man was at Princess Margaret Street, San Fernando when he heard several loud explosions. The man saw a little girl, around five-years-old, running towards him. The child told the man that her parents were dead, police said. He called the police and when they arrived on the scene, the officers found both left side doors of a silver BMW parked at Princess Margaret Street open and the bodies of a man and woman with gunshot wounds inside.

Brereton was slumped in the front passenger seat while Lalmansingh was in the driver’s seat. Police also recovered a revolver, believed to be the murder weapon, near the gear lever. Both Brereton and Lalmansingh worked at Iere Express Couriers Ltd and had been together for more than two years. They had no children together, but Brereton had two children—five-year-old girl and 11-year-old boy—from two previous relationships. Lalmansingh had an 18-year-old daughter from a previous relationship.

At her Seaview Drive, Marabella home yesterday, Brereton’s mother, Veronica Noel, said her daughter broke off the relationship before Christmas, but Lalmansingh would not leave her alone. Noel said she never knew that her daughter was in an abusive relationship until yesterday morning when one of Brereton’s friend told her that Lalmansingh used to beat and verbally abuse Brereton. “We had a close relationship. She should have told me something,” said Noel.

All she knew was that Lalmansingh was always asking her for money. She said Lalmansingh would still pick her daughter up for work and sometimes they worked late. She said on Saturday around 8.30 pm, Brereton left in Lalmansingh’s car, saying she was going to Fyzabad to come back. She took her daughter because she said she was not going to be long, Noel said. Not long after someone called Noel and gave her the bad news. When the police contacted her, she went to the Homicide Office where the police handed over her granddaughter to her.

“When I asked her for her mother she said ‘Mummy gone in the hospital.’” Noel said she was waiting until members of church arrive to speak to the child further about what happened. Describing Brereton as a nice person who was always smiling, Noel said her daughter worked hard to take care for her children.

Meanwhile, Lalmansingh’s relatives were at his Mitchell Street home yesterday trying to come to terms with what happened. Lalmansingh’s older sister, Kim Bhola, said he was not a violent person and not abusive to Brereton. “Anil loved that girl. He told my sister he love she. That is why everybody is like, ‘What happened? What went wrong?” “Anil was never a violent person, he was a cheerful person and was always there for his family.” When she heard the news, she said she was both hurt and shocked. “My mom cannot hold up right now.”

She last spoke with Lalmansingh about two weeks ago when their mother came to visit them from the United States. Asked if she knew why he killed himself and Brereton, she said: “We don’t know? We don’t have no idea if they had a dispute or a quarrel?” As far she was aware, Lalmansingh and Brereton was still in a relationship. She said Brereton lived by her brother for a while and sometimes he would say by her (Brereton). She sympathised with the Brereton’s family.

“As a mother my heart went out to them. It is so sad. I want to give sympathy to them. I don’t know what went wrong.” Autopsies are expected to be performed today at the Forensic Science Centre, Port-of-Spain. Cpl Charles of the Homicide Bureau of Investigations South is investigating.

Source:  http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2015-03-09/child-witnesses-parents%E2%80%99-murdersuicide-abusive-husband-kills-wife-self

MURDER-SUICIDE HORROR

Girl, 5, sees mom killed

By Carolyn Kissoon

Story Updated: Mar 8, 2015 at 11:36 PM ECT

DEAD: Anil Lalmansingh

 

A five-year-old girl who was in the back seat of a car had to watch as a man shot her mother dead before turning the weapon on himself on Saturday night.

Little Kensiya Ragoonanan ran out of the vehicle into the arms of a stranger, who was standing on the roadway.

Benedict Gabriel, of Pleasantville, told police he was standing at Princess Margaret Street, San Fernando around 9 p.m. when he heard explosions.

Gabriel said he saw a little girl running towards him. She said her mother was dead.

San Fernando police responded to the report and found the child’s mother, Jessica Brereton, dead in the front passenger seat. A man was slumped in the driver’s seat of the silver BMW car with gunshot wounds to the head.

He was identified as Anil Lalmansingh, 41, of Mitchell Street, South Oropouche.

Brereton, 34, lived at Seaview Drive, Marabella.

Relatives said the couple, who worked together at Iere Express Couriers in San Fernando, had been in a relationship for almost three years.

But late last year, relatives said, Brereton, an administrative assistant, ended the relationship.

Her mother, Veronica Noel, said, “She left home around 8.30 p.m. to go to Fyzabad. She didn’t say why. I ask her about her daughter and she said the child was going with her. She and the man worked together and they were in a relationship. Just before Christmas she ended the relationship because things were not working out. I didn’t know the details. But the man went Miami and came back and they were talking again.”

Brereton was also the mother of 11-year-old Hezekiah Brandon.

Following the shooting, Noel was informed that her daughter was in an abusive relationship with the man. “She confided in a friend. She didn’t tell me. I heard that he locked her in a room at work and wanted to stab her. He would rough her up in the office and she couldn’t put up with it anymore. I can’t understand why she didn’t tell me, because we had a good relationship. I heard that the man convinced my daughter to keep secrets from me because he knew I would go to the police,” she said.

Noel said Brereton was the second of her four children. “I got a call from someone who knew the man and she told me my daughter was shot dead. I didn’t believe it until the police called. I went to the station but they didn’t hand over Kensiya. I had to send for my identification card and the police brought her home to us. I am now left to care for my grandchildren,” she said.

The police and church have offered counselling to the little girl.

At Lalmansingh’s home in South Oropouche relatives were shocked by the news that he had killed Brereton and himself.

His older sister, Kim Bhola, said Lalmansingh loved Brereton dearly and wanted to marry her.

She said after her brother divorced six years ago, he found love in his co-worker and the two shared a good relationship. Lalmansingh, a courier, was the father of an 18-year-old girl.

Bhola said Brereton lived with her brother, who never displayed violent behaviour.

“He was in Miami recently and was supposed to go again this month. I got the news from my mom in New York, someone called her last night. He loved the girl, everybody was in shock,” she said.
Bhola said she sympathised with Brereton’s family.

“As a mother, my heart goes out to that family. I know they must be hurting just like us. It is so sad. I don’t know what went wrong. I don’t know why this happened,” she said.

Lalmansingh’s car was seized by investigators, as homicide detectives continue investigations.
The murder toll now stands at 84, according to an Express tally. 

 

Source: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/MURDER-SUICIDE-HORROR-295562391.html