Matthew Chin
Reporter
matthew.chin@guardian.co.tt
To commemorate this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8, the young men of Queen’s Royal College wanted to let T&T know that all women must receive love and respect–nothing short of royal treatment.
From March 4, students, teachers, and parents were encouraged to take photos making the heart sign with their hands to support IWD.
The ‘She’s Royal’ programme, launched approximately three years ago by the current principal, David Simon, seeks to sensitise and educate students and the wider QRC community about gender-based violence.
This year the college adopted the theme ‘Inspire Inclusion for Economic Empowerment’. Form Six student and committee member of the programme Kieron Castillo and others wore orange shirts last week to bring awareness to gender-based violence. The 17 year old has a younger sister who he cares for at home.
The committee members of the She’s Royal programme are from different forms within the college. Last year panel discussions were held but were not done this year due to mock examinations.
“We all came from a mother, her impact on your life is very great; if you fell, she would hold you up. I have a younger sister, I would always check up on her mental health etc,” Castillo said.
“One of the things that causes women to stay in abusive relationships is that they might not have control over the money in the home; they are forced to stay just to survive,” he added.
According to the World Bank, “gender-based violence (GBV) affects more than one in three women over the course of a lifetime,” (https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/gender/brief/addressing-gender-based-violence). When asked why it was important to teach young men about the reality of gender-based violence and how it impacts greater society, chairperson of the She’s Royal programme Karla Bryan said, “We need to effect change, and we cannot keep accepting the statistics the way they are. Hearing these (gender-based violent) stories is very disturbing. If people aren’t aware they will be trapped in a cycle where they keep doing the same thing; if they were abused they will continue to abuse others. And to break that cycle they need to be aware that something is wrong with such a behaviour. I believe once our educational system adopts some sort of programme such as She’s Royal, I believe Trinidad and Tobago can see a change in the future.”
Recalling the inspiration behind the She’s Royal programme, the principal of Queen’s Royal College admitted he had been deeply concerned about the trend of femicide following failed relationships and other issues surrounding women in T&T.
“There was a feeling as an all-male school we wanted to add our voice to the international voice speaking to that violence against women. We were finding that so many women were losing their lives as a result of gender-based and domestic violence.
This was the inspiration for the programme,” Simon said.
Simon, taking note of the pattern of gender-based violence, wanted young boys to be educated on the consequences of this type of violence so that they would not be ensnared by it.
“We are responsible for grooming a number of males. We wanted to ensure that our boys, even if they may enter relationships that are failing or may have failed, that they do not see (violence) as an option,” Simon said.