UWI gender unit: State must act on domestic killings

THE State must remedy its failure to act on domestic killings urged the UWI, St Augustine, Institute for Gender and Development Studies (IGDS) in a statement on Friday.

“The killing of women must stop!”

The institute lamented that nine days into the new year, three women have been killed brutally by male suspects likely known to them.

The statement said a 2018 report had found one in three women in TT had faced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence in their lifetime, including seven per cent in a 12-month period. The IGDS said this data suggests male violence against women is widespread and affects 10,000-plus women each year.

“The institute continues to be astounded at the absence of a clear and cohesive state strategy to prevent such violence, which is often committed in retaliation to a woman's decision to leave a dysfunctional relationship.

“It calls relevant state authorities to incorporate civil society and corporate partners committed to preventing and responding to male violence against women.”

The IGDS said these murders reflect a gender socialisation that normalises male violence, plus a long-standing problem of premeditated/sustained domestic terror against women.

“We call on state authorities to show that preventing the killing of women is a national priority by implementing effective prevention and response strategies with immediate effect, rather than reasserting promises to ‘investigate’ or uttering euphemistic platitudes that identify the problem as general family violence, mental illness, or poor choices by women.”