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A few days ago a young mother, pregnant with her second child, filed a report with the police. Her estranged husband had turned up at her parents’ home and threatened to “blow” them up.
Roughly twelve hours later, in the dead of night, the house where she lived with her little daughter and parents was fire-bombed. As flames licked across the roof and down the walls, eating through the ceiling and reducing their car to scrap iron, the neighbourhood rushed to their rescue. Just in time.
All four got out, the half-asleep child being the first to be heaved over a wall.
For anyone confused by the concept of a gender policy and its practical application in daily life, incidents like this one provide a vivid flesh-and-bone example of why it is needed and precisely what is involved.
Whether or not a country adopts the device of a Ministry of Gender Affairs is not, by itself, the most important thing although it might be indicative. What matters is the existence of policies and strategies based on the clear recognition that gender is one of the key variables that affect the citizen’s enjoyment of the rights to which all are entitled. Further, that such recognition is anchored through the full expression of the state and its agencies all the way from the top down, and back.
It is what is called gender mainstreaming and, in Trinidad and Tobago, this goes against the grain of a national culture that still sees woman as the property of man.
Last week, when this young mother needed help, it was once again clear that the gender agenda has fallen far short of implementation.
A kindly officer had taken the report, but there was no protocol in place to protect the police service against its instinctive hesitation about getting involved in “man-woman business.”
(Courtesy Batchwilliams.com)
Perhaps, if a businessman had reported an employee’s threat to “blow up” his business, a jeep-load of officers would have been immediately deployed to haul in that employee. But not when it involves a woman.
Whether or not the assailant was the estranged husband, the fact is that no police action followed her report. No jeep-load of officers was deployed to find the alleged aggressor, nor was she given police protection pending investigation.
Instead, having filed her report, she went home to the danger lying in wait completely undisturbed by the police service of T&T. For the little girl who had endured the trauma of the family scene and subsequent fire, the system had no response to offer.
Once again, there was no protocol in place to connect the police report to the psychological resources of the Children’s Authority.
Whatever our claims to modernity, many women and children still dwell in the culture of the oppressed. In the case of children, the cultural attitudes that see them as the property of parents and assorted adults, and not as individuals with their own bill of rights, subverts every layer of legislative protection with which we guard them.
Indeed, the more enlightened the legislation, the more enraged the response of violence. For the old power system that sees women and children as property, enlightened legislation is an act of provocation to be fought, to the deadly end in some cases.
This, as we know, has been the tragic experience of some women who sought orders of protection only to be taught a fatal lesson by men who felt their power and right to “enjoyment” of their property was being challenged by the law.
We are treading dangerous waters when we approach law as a culture-free domain. In blinding ourselves to the potential for cultural convulsion, progressive legislation could end up destroying lives.
The recently-proclaimed Children’s Act is a case in point. In asserting and protecting the rights of children, the Act is nothing short of revolutionary. But we must not close our eyes to the fact that it is in conflict with deeply-ingrained cultural attitudes to children based on notions of children as parental property.
We cannot just wait to see how this conflict will express itself. That might be too late for children whose parents or associated adults decide to teach them a lesson about where power really resides.
In anticipation of this contestation, there is a serious responsibility on policymakers and everyone involved in implementation to ensure that the public is fully informed about the laws, their rights and their responsibility; that everyone knows how the system works for them and where the resources for help reside.
So many years after the introduction of domestic violence legislation, many women still have no idea how it works, where to turn to for help and how to protect themselves.
Every day of terror finds them casting in the wind for help. Too often, it just never comes, even when it is lying somewhere there.
This is the point where the future of Government Information Services and state-owned media must be put in the mix. As they currently stand, both are sadly miscast.
CNMG serves no strategic purpose and, in today’s age of media, quite likely never will. The train of big state media has left the station.
(Courtesy Icatt.org)
What we need is not Government information—which invariably translates into propaganda—but public information built into government, every step of the way. Centralising information is a step in the wrong direction. The times demand decentralised information, close to people and responsive to individual need.
But that is a column for another day.
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Sunity Maharaj is a journalist with 38 years of experience and the managing director of the Lloyd Best Institute of the West Indies.
She is a former Trinidad Express editor in chief and TV6 head of news.
A sobering but nonetheless excellent read.
excellent article Sunity Maharaj. old power = male power = church power. there are two main issues here. 1) lack of police accountability. 2) entrenched misogny . The only way to re-humanise people is a) ban all male centric religons, or at least b) remove from “holy” books all passages that reduce women to a level less than a man. As i keep saying once men believe women make out of a rib, women will be under pressure.
Lasana Liburd I am currently privy to a case where an abused woman went to court and successfully gained a restraining order against her estranged husband but he still beats here whenever and wherever he sees her and the police are not doing a thing about it. Also, I recently engaged a teenager just turned 18, about something that happened to her at age 12 at Secondary school when a 16 year old male student at the school had had intercourse with her and she now an adult wanted to report the incident. I called the Child Protection Unit a the St. James Police Station and a female Sgt. boasting (no, really, she actually boasted) of her double-figured tenure in the Unit, told me that if she (the 12-year-old) consented, then nothing could be done. The Police continue not to know what their job is, and they do not know the law.
Another excellent example of our law enforcement officers either blatantly irresponsible or sincerely ignorant of the law or both!
Wow. What next Ucill Cambridge? Police complaints authority?
I will continue to say that we need a higher qualification level to enter the TTPS and a more stringent level of exams for promotion. Mo more seniority! Problem though is – who will bell the cat?!
Lasana Liburd These are not the kind of people with that type of stamina.
I agree the police appears to be ingorant of the law. Try getting them to enforce noise pollution and dangerous dogs legislation and see how useful they are. Far less for more seeious issues like domestic violence, child abuse etc. And it is commendable that some try to assist. Unfirtunately, the reality is we are just as guilty of staying out of husband and wife business by also not reporting or assisting. Where is the extended family, church etc in all of this.
I note the concern and I am still not convinced that a gender policy would address this issue. The police need to do their work. I know a while ago the police service had a number of ads etc to promote their services and resources available. Was a restraining order taken out? We need to keep in mind that many women ars afraid to follow up/through after making a report. But the officer/s ought to be trained to deal with such sensitive situations and know how and what resources to direct victims to and there should be a dedicated department/officer/s who work in co-ordination with complementary services-social services/family court etc.
Hence my suggestion that gender be housed in planning and development rather than be housed under a separate letterhead and bldg. Gender, like environment (which is back under P&D) should be infused in all aspect of policy making and planning.
A simple thing like being able to walk down the street unharassed needs to be on the forefront of our consciousness. Drummed into our heads on a daily basis with ads, PSAs, educational programmes, television spots, roving school programmes. We need to stop thinking that anyone can own anyone…because I see girls being violent towards boys as well in domestic and interpersonal relationships.
I would go on…Im tempted to ask where these public awareness programmes are.
Gender sensitization and awareness. How do we address the great divide between how many females vs males pursue tertiary education and where are the statistics.
Well you answered your question..
CSO sticking.
I honestly believe in our society we probably have a reverse gender crisis. I see so many women involved in HSE, construction, airline industry, parliament recently. Yes they work hard and achieve a lot but we need to provide support for our men too-they are being left behind.
I wouldnt say reverse. There are gendered issues. Period. And they all need addressing. Some issues are peculiar to men and some to women. But the issues are plaguing the country. We need data from studies. It would be nice if CSO and the IGDS and the various gender-focused NGOs were providing them for us to grapple with.
Part of the gender problem is because the women have been so successful and the men have dropped out. Sum up – Macho or machisimo.
“Perhaps, if a businessman had reported an employee’s threat to “blow up” his business, a jeep-load of officers would have been immediately deployed to haul in that employee. But not when it involves a woman…….”
That point cuts to the bone.
Yup!
The legislation of Trinidad and Tobago keeps failing women. You have to get your husband’s permission to tie your tubes if you are married. Abortion is still illegal. Women are still treated as second class citizens. Great article .