The abuse of boys and girls constitutes a heinous crime. But focus will shift to boys when the Institute for Gender and Development Studies (IGDS) rolls out its 2013 interventions.IGDS coordinator Kathryn Chan made this comment during a meeting with stakeholders at the Break the Silence Network meeting at the University of the West Indies' St Augustine Campus on Saturday. Its thrust will also coincide with the theme of 2013 International Men's (November 19) Day–Keeping Men and Boys Safe.
Among those present were deputy campus principal/former IGDS head, Prof Rhoda Reddock; Zuyrda Edoo, Madinah House; Marcus Kissoon, of the Rape Crisis Society T&T; and Carla Ali, from the Ministry of the Attorney General.Chan said: "Many times we tend to look at girls being abused. But the reality is a number of boys are abused. We will be looking at protecting our precious boys. If they are abused, they become abusers. Society reaps what we have sown. We have to protect our boys and girls."
Consensus among the stakeholders was the need to get schools, educators and caregivers involved in the fight against abuse–especially sexual abuse."Gatekeepers" were urged to report abuse to the police despite being dependent on abusers economically. Stakeholders agreed there was a lot of work to be done in the vineyard to make inroads culturally.
More info log on to http://sta.uwi.edu/igds/breakthesilence/index.asp or email: bts.ecsa@gmail.com
IGDS EVENTS
March 11 to 13–Violence Against Children Conference–Hyatt Regency Trinidad
March 23–Diego Martin walk /Community Action Councils
March 25 to 27–Caribbean Conference of Domestic Violence and Gender Equality–Magdalena Grand Hotel, Tobago
April 13–IGDS Open House
