Deyalsingh wants back traditional values

He was delivering an address on the final day of a three-day workshop: Strengthening the Capacity of Health Systems to Prevent and Respond to Violence Against Women.

The workshop was held at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Center in Port of Spain.

Deyalsingh offered condolences to the family of murdered PC Nyasha Joseph whose body was found at sea on Wednesday. Deyalsingh said, “If ever we needed a wake up call, that was it.” He lamented that the death came so soon after celebrating International Women’s Day (March 8).

Deyalsingh stunned the audience when he said that of the 42 women present at the event, 14 were victims of sexual violence according to current statistics. “That is very scary.” He spoke of men in certain societies not being able to cope with women.

Deyalsingh said, “We are starting in this country to glorify this institution they call the single parent family and put it as a societal norm.

But what ever happened to old fashion values of a nuclear family? A child, particularly boys, needs to have a male figure around and this new norm is not doing these young boys any good. No one is around to properly guide them. When they drop out of school, they have low expectations of life.

And out of that comes a generation of men with low problem- management skills who cannot resolve conflict, and that leads to violence against women.” Deyalsingh also stated, “Entwined in all of this is the role of alcohol and drugs.

A lot of domestic violence is fueled by alcohol and drugs.” He announced that his ministry is embarking on a mission to reduce alcohol use via its non-communicable disease policy.