As Trinidad and Tobago joins the rest of the world in 16 days of activism against gender-based violence (GBV), the unfortunate reality for us is that such activism is as necessary here today as it is across the globe.
The United Nations-led GBV initiative was launched yesterday (November 25) on International Day to End Violence against Women. It ends on December 10, which is Human Rights Day. Created by the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership at Rutgers University in 1991, the global campaign aims to raise awareness about the consequences of GBV and urges governments, communities, businesses and other stakeholders to take action to eliminate the worrying scourge.
Globally, countless lives have already been lost.
However, the official death toll does not tell the whole story, as millions, especially women, are harmed daily, nightly, even hourly, by the senseless violence often perpetrated against them while they are at home, and supported by a mainly misogynistic, sexist and toxic culture that sees women as less than men.
Here in Trinidad and Tobago, where the rate of murder on the whole is a matter of nation concern given the more than 540 killings on the books for 2022, GBV is a recognisable factor in the homicide equation.
Most glaringly this year, we can point to the shooting death of 41-year-old Keisha Bostic in San Fernando at the hands of her estranged husband, who later turned the gun on himself.
The Gender-Based Violence Unit in the Police Service has also noted an increase in GBV since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, while raising serious concern about the culture that causes it.
This matter of culture was also addressed in a 2018 study on GBV in T&T, which found that such violence was normalised when the prevailing culture tolerates physical punishment of women and children; accepts violence as a means of settling interpersonal disputes; or perpetuates the notion that men “own” women.
Other popular reasons advanced for the rise in GBV include women’s fear of seeking help, an inability to seek help without incurring further threats, stalking and physical violence, economic dependence, loss of confidence, insufficient knowledge about services available and the lack of appropriate services.
Many women spoke of feeling they had nowhere to turn to be safe, since perpetrators could easily find them. Some also said they had experienced multiple intervention failures in relation to social services, the police and the justice system.
Locally, demonstrations against GBV are not common but we have noticed that when such protests are held, as in the case of the national outcry over the murder of Andrea Bharath in February 2021, they prompt the authorities to act.
We know it takes courage to speak, as well as to act, but the only way to stop GBV is for our collective actions in support of eliminating it to be louder than our words.
