No means no

Justice Ramsumair-Hinds recently sent an unequivocal signal of the court's support for legal defence against domestic violence.

In her summation, the judge warned, "All who fail to appreciate they cannot force anyone to have sex even with a history of previous consent."

TT has aligned its laws with the UN's global movement to criminalise marital rape, inclusive of cohabitation relationships.

"Spousal rape is a form of violence and punishable by law," the judge said on June 25. The case involved a man who argued with his common-law wife while drunk, threatened to kill her and after she called the police, raped her in retaliation. The assault happened in front of the woman's children, leaving them all to deal with the trauma of the abuse in the years since.

Following this case, Justice Kathy-Ann Waterman-Latchoo, on June 27, ordered that the identity of a young man convicted of sexual assault should be lodged with the National Sex Offenders Registry.

For six years after his release, he will be required to report to a police station every four months. Failure to report can lead to a fine and jail term.

Newsday columnist Dr Gabrielle Hosein, who heads UWI's Institute for Gender and Development Studies in St Augustine, isn’t persuaded that the register, active since 2020, will be an effective solution in limiting gender violence.

Dr Hosein believes that there needs to be a greater emphasis on reporting, prosecution, conviction, availability of counselling and options for restorative justice.

While the registry is a forward-looking step, there must be greater confidence in the justice system, encouraging an increase in reporting and greater awareness of the consequences of both actual assault and complicity in abusive actions.

In March, at a breakfast meeting celebrating International Women's Day, Mrs Sharon Clark-Rowley, the Prime Minister's wife, and an attorney, noted that, "Women suffer in silence, and it is for us to use our voices to help the voiceless. That voice must include our men."

The growing number of conversations about gender parity and the injustice of gender imbalances that lead to an assumption of impunity for acts of abuse is also an important part of changing the status quo in the workplace, in our homes and in schools where there is still too much skittishness about serious discussion of these matters.

The National Clinical and Policy Guidelines on Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence, a spotlight initiative of PAHO and the WHO was introduced in August 2022, clarifying the issues that face TT in managing gender violence. According to UN Women, since 2021, 83.3 per cent of the legal frameworks that promote, enforce, and monitor gender equality were in place.

But creating the law alone won't consistently create safe spaces for genders to coexist that will begin with fundamental changes in social norms and respect for gender parity.