“I have mixed feelings. Anger, anxiety, disbelief, and acceptance take turns alternating in my mind. Nostalgia. “[…] I remember my first day as a trainee […] being yelled at in front of the entire shop by an older man in my first year, ‘Allyuh ‘oman only trying to take man …
Read More »Dear Abuser… if you love them, leave them alone: Letters on domestic violence in T&T
“Dear Abuser… I am asking you please, if you love them, leave them alone. Acknowledge that you are toxic. “Acknowledge that you have hurt and violated them in a way intimate partners never should, and leave them alone…” The following letter written by Rachael Amanda Espinet—who described herself as the …
Read More »Caribbean gender violence is a left-over from colonialism: Letters on domestic violence in T&T
“The Caribbean’s brand of gender-based violence is partly supported by the legacy of colonialism that manifests in race, age, gender and class relations. “The power construct of the plantation system included the ownership of bodies that transferred into the post-emancipation/post-indentureship entitlement of men and masculinities in domestic and social relationships.” …
Read More »Dear Editor: Baldeosingh suggests ‘gender feminists’ use ‘specious facts’ on domestic violence
“The available data suggest that 40 percent of women are abusive towards their partners, with an even higher rate likely to initiate violence. “This is why the other frequently cited statistic ‘that one in three women are victims of domestic violence’ is meaningless, since it does not take account of …
Read More »I was 17 when a man first threatened to rape me in Tacarigua: Letters on domestic violence in T&T
“I was 17 when I was first verbally accosted on the street. I was standing on the PBR at the Tacarigua intersection, when a man—probably in his 20s—who I had seen at the corner before, approached me. “He began: ‘Next time yuh come ’round here looking so sweet…’ Or maybe …
Read More »Dear Editor: Traffic police can make a difference; better enforcement needed on roads
Daily, cyclists and runners take to the roads in pursuit of their respective sports, and nearly all of them do so while following the appropriate safety requirements. Unfortunately, pedestrians and motorists seem less concerned with safety and more with doing their own thing whenever they want, and expect to do …
Read More »Crowne: AG Al-Rawi was out of line and unprofessional in response to Senator Hosein
“The Attorney General occupies the second or third highest office in our nation. To use that office to suggest that a fellow member of the legal profession be de-credentialed simply because he disagrees with their statement is appalling. “This is not about politics. It is about civility and basic professionalism.” …
Read More »Dear Editor: “Choko” was a genius, but the TNT Mirror was destroyed by tired, visionless leaders
“To be sure, the Mirror and other Choko newspapers had lost their impact more than a decade ago, because of the absence of leadership, which led to the lack of innovation and creativity even as the digital revolution became all-pervasive. “[…] Choko’s successors—journalists included—did not appreciate that the TNT Mirror, …
Read More »Dear Editor: Has T&T reverted from Police Service to Police Force? And at what price our liberty?
“When police are militarised, they are more likely to be attacked (Carriere, 2016). The militarisation of police does not reduce crime. Elite teams neither reduce crime nor enhance public safety and become used routinely in low-income communities. “There is no evidence that this practice enhances officer safety nor lowers crime …
Read More »TTPS charge 22-year-old St Augustine man with sedition over Facebook post
Twenty-two-year-old Santa Margarita, St Augustine resident Jonathan Anthony Mohammed is the first Trinidad and Tobago citizen to be charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act, after the DPP gave instructions to the Terrorism Interdiction Unit (TIU) on Friday 9 November. The Anti-Terrorism Act was initially passed in 2005 while it received its …
Read More »Dear Editor: Is Griffith’s crime-fighting medicine good for us in the long term?
“I celebrate the success of the intelligence that would have led to this find [of weapons and drugs]… But there is something else that I feel a deep concern about. “I look with discomfort at that brotherhood of testosterone and violence that our Commissioner seems a little too happy to …
Read More »“Media freedom under attack in this country”: MATT condemns TTPS “obstruction” of TV6 journalists
“MATT also notes the apparent attempt made by a member of the public to use their perceived influence to prevent the story—which the crew was in the process of completing—from being aired as a part of the station’s newscast on that day. “[…] MATT has provided details of the incident …
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