T&T’s high rate of sex crimes
The Caribbean has one of the highest incidences per capita of rape and violence against women globally. These were among the findings in a report by Canadian human trafficking and migrant consultant Dr Cleophas Justine Pierre, who presented this data to members of a diplomatic corp during a lecture on human trafficking earlier this year.
The report shows that T&T is particularly vulnerable because of its porous borders, which resulted in an influx of criminal gangs.
Pierre gave statistics for the five years 2015-2020 for most countries in the Caribbean and Latin America, showing the types of crime committed and the occupations of the ten groups of people most likely to commit sexual offences. The data is based on the international standard classification of occupations (ILO) (ISIC codes) of persons arrested or investigated for a crime.
Of particular significance were the horrifying crimes against women and the failure of several governments to have “policies to protect the vulnerable, especially migrants, LGBT population, rural women, persons with disabilities, persons living with HIV and the indigenous communities.”
According to Dr Pierre, the data of more than “27 million incidences of arrest and investigations over the last five years revealed that 70.09 per cent of sexual predators in the Caribbean are from ten board occupations, with the highest incidents among farmers and fishermen—approximately 7.5 million people.
Workers in the transportation sector, such as bus conductors, taxi drivers, or taxi operators, accounted for approximately 4.4 million perpetrators, followed by close to 1.9 million club owners.
Although official police statistics show that sexual offences have decreased over the last three years, officials of the Rape Crisis Society of T&T (RCSTT) question the accuracy of that data as many cases of rape are underreported.
According to statistics provided by Pierre, T&T ranked 26th globally for rape with 18.48 per 100,000 inhabitants. T&T Police Service (TTPS) data for rape, incest, and other sexual offences shows that there were 531 cases in 2017, 726 in 2018, 352 in 2019, 372 in 2020 and 366 in 2021. This year there were 166 cases between January and June.
RSCTT project manager Kimiko Scott said many women are afraid to report acts of sexual violence and aren’t completely convinced of the police figures.
“Over 75 per cent of the adults currently engaged in counselling sessions with RCSTT for instances of sexual violence have not filed a report. We don’t see changes in trends in our work; what we provide is counselling, outreach support, and courses. Our statistics tell us more people are seeking counselling support for sexual violence. As they transition into counselling treatment, we try to avoid using the word victim and get into survivor mode.
“The statistics from the police are reported cases. Many people who access counselling have never gone to court or filed a report. They don’t want to go through the process, and they feel ashamed. Our system is still very much like a police officer asking what they wore and where they carried the man. The system is built on questioning a survivor rather than believing their story or investigating it,” she said.
Scott said the six counsellors on staff at RSCTT conducted 2,298 counselling sessions for 440 clients last year. There is a waiting list of 389 persons who called and requested counselling.
“There was a decrease in the police statistics during COVID, but I think that was a decrease in the ability to report or willingness to report and not necessarily instances. The numbers we have in terms of people seeking support have not decreased and have been increasing last three years.”
She said the RSCTT offers counselling with psychologists and social workers free of charge, operates two hotlines—627-7273, and since 2021 a bilingual hotline 866-7428—available from 6 pm to 6 am daily.
Scott further revealed: “For the migrants, harassment on the streets has been very, very big. Trinidad and Tobago has been getting a bad rap, especially with migrant women. The men believe that migrant women are here to take care of their needs and not to work in a grocery.
“Our culture condones certain mentalities against women. There is a feeling of entitlement and ownership, so our idea that we can own people or stake a claim to a person’s body gets us in trouble. There are hidden cultural allowances or patterns we have not broken that condone abuse.”
According to Scott, sex offenders can be from any background, walk of life, or educational background.
President of the International Women’s Resource Network (IWRN) Adriana Sandrine Isaac-Rattan believes rape cases could be considerably higher than reported because women are afraid to come forward for fear of retaliation.
“Since August 2019, the International Women’s Resource Network has seen an increase in rape incidents within the age group 21 - 35 years. What should be noted is that for many personal reasons, victims do not report the incidents to the police and prefer to seek counselling. Some victims have also opted not to report the incidents as based on feedback from other victims, they believe that their matters would not be taken seriously by the police,” Isaac-Rattan said
“Based on scientific research, 90 per cent of perpetrators were themselves victims of sexual abuse in their earlier years, and because they were not healed, they repeat the cycle of sexual abuse. Another reason is heavy engagement in pornographic tendencies which further manifests in sexual misconduct such as rape.”
Isaac-Rattan said that perpetrators come from across the broadest strata of Trinidad and Tobago, and there have been perpetrators as old as 75 years.
She also listed different types of rapes:
- Diminished Capacity Rape—When one person forces sexual penetration on another person who cannot consent to the sex act.
- Age-Related Rape—Also known as statutory rape. In this case, sexual actions with a person below the approved age are considered illegal.
- Incest—This type of rape is dictated by a relationship between parents and children, uncles and nieces/nephews, or aunts and nieces/nephews.
- Partner Rape—Spousal or marital rape involves a person’s partner or previous partner.
- Acquaintance Rape—This occurs between two individuals known to each other.
- Aggravated Rape—Forced sex acts by the threat of death or serious bodily harm, forced sex acts involving unconscious or drugged victims, and sex acts with children under 12.
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