As the family and friends of Andrea Bharath continue mourning her senseless and horrific murder, at the hands of savages roaming our streets in human form, the rest of us who have felt a knot in our stomachs and have cried when her body was discovered, need to have a real conversation with each other. The type of conversation where serious retrospection takes place, the kind of conversation that not many people are willing to have because it is easier to remember Andrea for the next 7 days and then move on with our lives because she was *not* our daughter, our sister, our mother, our co-worker, or our friend.
The kind of conversation we need to have where revolting political alliances do not ever take precedence over a 22 year old woman who was brutally killed. As I type this, I am hearing the loud music of countless cars passing by (with police cars in-tow) waving political flags gathering more people to join their party rather than demanding justice for those who are now voiceless.
You and I know perfectly clear that if the price of KFC goes up, people will start complaining non-stop, leave comments on Facebook but continue patronizing the franchise anyway. That’s how we are, like dogs that bark but do not bite. This is the reason why no one takes us seriously. Unless, something extremely important such as not having Carnival this year takes place and then yes, we need to get together to demand some sort of virtual celebration in our infested-crime island because there is always a reason for a good wine and rum. We have tons to celebrate.
We have become so accustomed to crime that we have become desensitized. Andrea is just another victim in the long list of women who go missing, who are kidnapped, who are raped, who are beaten and who are brutally killed in this country and we are all very much appalled when it happens… and then what? We stop at the appalling part, then we do nothing else. We don’t ACT. We do NOT get together and DEMAND changes in the law that can hold these monsters accountable for their actions because we do not want to look “bad”, we don’t want to ruffle any feathers and we don’t want others to think we are attacking anyone.
In other words, our personal and political alliances (and blindness) are more important than the lives of our neighbours, relatives and co-workers. This kind of mentality is in itself disgusting and sickening. Yet, this is what reflects us, when we CHOOSE to stay quiet because “no one in Trinbago ever complains”. We continue accepting the status quo because we do NOT believe we have the POWER to make changes in this country and in reality, because we could not care less. We are good at paying lip service. We are so blasted selfish, thinking always in ourselves because as long as we are “good” and “safe”, to hell with everybody else without realizing for a second that the next victim can be us and if we are lucky, someone else will have to speak on our behalf.
Why is kidnapping and raping a bailable offense is beyond me particularly, when you have hundreds of sexual abuse victims in this country, many who are lucky to tell their stories, and many who died in the hands of their abusers and murderers.
Women are only put on the spot once again when they are victims of crime. They “should know better”, “What was she doing at that hour with that guy” “Look how she was dressed”, “If she was home at that hour…”, “Something fishy going on, I don’t believe her”, and “She looked for it”.
We try to rationalize and justify WHY women need to protect themselves putting the responsibility on the woman once again and we do NOT mention at all the role of MEN in this picture. WHY are we NOT teaching boys, young men and men to STOP treating women like if they are things they can touch, use, and abuse whenever they feel to?
Whether we like to hear it or not, these monsters in human form do not come from a faraway Galaxy. An alien spaceship did not drop them in Trinidad. WE raised them, WE saw the signs but did nothing. Or is it so hard to accept that criminal parents raise criminal children? The issues we are facing are not from this generation or because of the internet or the “modern” world. We need to take a good look at ourselves. The examples we have been giving to our children and grandchildren, the things they have been exposed to because of our own doing, the things they were forced to experience as children because we don’t know any better. How much love, nurturing and care have we showed them? How in the world can we even show them this love and care if we did not even receive it ourselves and we have no clue what is like? Yet, this is only scratching the surface.
When trying to look around for who failed Andrea and the countless victims like her, stop looking too far — WE failed her.
There has to be better laws that would put these monsters away and not give them option of bail. There need to be support groups for victims and programs that will empower women,mentally, emotionally and physically. These criminals need to be punished to the highest extent of the law, no mercy, just what they showed their victims. There must be change!
Definitivamente es urgente darle un giro al tema VIOLENCIA DE GENERO. El Derecho comparado tiene importantes avances en MEDIDAS DE PROTECCION. Y en materia del PROCESO PENAL, la medida PRIVATIVA DE LIBERTAD ES IMPOSTERGABLE. Mucho más en materia de los delitos graves como el secuestro y la violación. No deben tener ningún tipo de medida sustitutiva a la privativa de Libertad.
Proper legislations need to be reform in the judiciary system. The history of Trinidad and Tobago were bred from the toils of slavery and the plantation concept of violence. A multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary team to address social issues must be ramped up from a holistic perspective. Most times it’s the social issues that stem from the homes of families and in our communities that perpetuate onto generations due to it not being addressed from collective action. Social issues of these perpetrators were once children and were exposed to such heinous acts and crime. Incest, rape, domestic violence, murder, poverty, gangs war, all of these are precipitation factors of some of the many social issues. How do we protect our women and children when men or youths continue to commit these crimes boldly? It takes the heart of every citizen, and all walks of discipline to campaign for the change we need to see in our country of Trinidad and Tobago.