Barratt wants swift justice for gender-based violence victims

ANGELO JEDIDIAH

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Head of the Institute for Gender and Development Studies, Dr. Sue-Ann Barratt, is renewing calls for swift justice for gender-based violence victims, citing public frustration with the lack of action.

According to the University of the West Indies lecturer, while T&T has laws to protect victims, without swift justice and reliable enforcement, those laws are failing the very people they were meant to safeguard.

Speaking on CNC3’s The Morning Brew on Wednesday, Dr. Barratt made her comments in wake of another violent attack– where a 20-year-old Rio Claro woman was hospitalised after being doused with muriatic acid on Monday by a male offender.

“To hear of this is most troubling and of course always causes dismay,” Dr. Barratt said. 

“We need faster implementation, faster execution of justice, reliable execution of justice, reliable prosecution of cases, and of course, protection of those who are vulnerable, whether they are women, men, gender non conforming people.”

Dr. Barratt stressed that authorities must make a greater effort to reinforce and strengthen the prosecution of gender-based violence offenders, sending a clear message that such actions will have consequences. 

While the Rio Claro case is an example of physical violence, Dr. Barratt reminded that abuse often extends far beyond visible injuries—taking psychological, reputational, or financial forms that are harder to detect but equally damaging.

She also warned against the tendency to speculate about what may have led to an attack, saying that such behaviour shifts focus away from the perpetrator’s actions.

“The complicity of victim blaming, you know, people like to always analyze what could have happened…like that story this morning, that process is also another layer of re-violating, which happens a lot.”