Webster-Roy speaks of ‘peeping Tom’ experience

Speaking at a workshop aimed at bringing an end to Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and Discrimination yesterday at the Arnold Thomasos Room of Parliament at the Waterfront in Port of Spain, the Minister expressed her disgust with the unprofessionalism of the officers at the time.

“I remember the difficulty of having reported a peeping Tom to the police and not having them take the matter seriously,” Webster-Roy said.

“The officers were more interested in what the scoundrel saw and what I was wearing at the time than actually following up on the matter.

The only thing even remotely close to justice that I received was when my husband left the house in the middle of the night and went out, found the man and put a good beating on him.

I later told my husband that he was wrong to do what he did, because had he killed the man, my children would have been without a father and I without a husband.” Webster-Roy went on to say that the experience has only caused her to reaffirm her responsibility as a Minister, and as a woman, to ensure the protection of all women and urged men to step up and take responsibility as fathers and leaders.

“The Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago, acknowledges the unalienable rights of women and girls to be free of violence and intimidation of any kind. I am here to advocate for these rights and it is important for both male and female legislators join in on the discussion.” Minister of Community Development, Culture and the Arts, Dr. Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, echoed the sentiments of her Cabinet colleague and called for more open discussion on matters of sexual abuse and gender- based violence and also urged men to become more proactive in the dialogue as progress can only come from both men and women working together. “Women play a crucial role in all sectors of society and across all boundaries.

We have women leaders, women Prime Ministers, who represent us at the highest levels, but GBV in Trinidad and Tobago remains a serious problem that must be addressed.

The inclusion of men into the discussion on violence towards women, represents a change in thinking and a fuller, multi-faceted approach to addressing the root causes of violence.” United Nations (UN) Women Acting Head of Office in the Caribbean, Tronni Ann Brodber, said that she had worked with police commissioners in training courses and encouraged them to place greater attention to cases of domestic violence.

“I’ve asked commissioners in the past, why they don’t place cases of domestic abuse as high priority issues and they would usually say that such issues are ‘soft’ crimes and that they have more serious crimes like murders to investigate.

But what I always ask is that officers should address these cases of domestic violence before they have the chance to become cases of murder.” Yesterday’s forum was part of the global ‘Orange The World’ campaign launched by UN Women, which sought to end the incidence of physical and sexual violence against women.

UN Women has partnered with regional bodies such as the Caribbean Association of Judicial Officers (CAJO) to enhance court response to gender-based violence, including sexual violence and to improve judicial responsiveness as it relates to violence towards women.