First Caribbean Prevalence Survey on Gender-Based Violence Launched in Trinidad and Tobago

Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago: Almost 1 in 3 women have or will experience some form of physical or sexual violence in their lifetime in Trinidad and Tobago.

Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Gender and Child Affairs, Ayanna Webster-Roy said this translates to about 130,000 women, way too high for a country of 1.3 million. The results in keeping with the WHO global findings, were revealed at the launch of the first prevalence survey on GBV for Trinidad and Tobago.

UN Women funded a companion qualitative survey which complemented the national quantitative survey funded by the IDB. The data confirms the sobering fact that VAW is widespread and underscores the urgent need for adoption and implementation of meaningful laws, policies and programmes geared at prevention of and protection from VAW. This includesmoving women out of situations of violence through support of safe housing for them and their children and the means to be financially independent.

It is also necessary to address toxic elements associated with masculinity which wrongfully dictate that men have power and control over women’s lives and often lead to violence against women. There was a highly significant relationship between a male partner’s controlling behaviours and women’s experience of emotional physical and sexual partner violence. Women whose partners exhibited multiple controlling behaviours such as restricting a woman’s freedom of movement or access to health care were at least twice as likely to experience at least 1 dimension of IPV.

Read more here: http://evaw-global-database.unwomen.org/en/countries/americas/trinidad-and-tobago