By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
October 23, 2024
Two weeks ago, I responded to Nigel Seenathsingh’s letter that appeared in the Express. I wrote: “When I warned…about the dangers inherent in the Leader of Our Grief’s statements about women, I was not trying to demonise him or Stuart Young. I was only alerting my readers to be on guard about the violence against women [I emphasised women] that exists in our society and the role that language plays in this regard.”
Continue reading Language matters
By Raffique Shah
July 04, 2023
Verily I say unto you, Man, that you have the right to use, abuse or misuse your body any which way you choose to, so long as you do not impose your choices on your neighbours, friends, and especially on your enemies, since they are likelier to be hostile, even war-like punishment for one’s refusal to submit to the will of the others’ which must be wrong in any culture, belief or ethnicity; further, I retain my right to practice within the privacy of my castle, however humble such edifice may be, acts between me and my mate that bring us immense pleasure, that do not impinge on the freedoms of others, least of all on children who do not have the maturity to rationally determine what is good for them, and what is not.
Continue reading Your Gender, Your Business
Guardian Editorial
June 23, 2023 – guardian.co.tt
The issue of lesbian and gay rights has been knocking on our door for some time now. Today, the LGBTQ+ community is banging on the front door demanding attention. A feeling of blissfully secure, or indeed silently angst from within the presumed safety of our previously secured places, will not protect us from facing an issue that is present everywhere in our world.
Continue reading All voices must be raised in LGBTQ+ debate
Newsday Editorial
June 06, 2023
MANY are the reasons why a victim of sexual assault may not come forward.
Some fear they will not be believed. Others are daunted by a criminal justice system plagued with delay. All of this is made worse when the perpetrator is a member of the protective services.
Continue reading A special victim
By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
March 15, 2021
It must have been in the early 1940s. My father slapped my mother.
She took him to court. Six months later the trial took place. The magistrate asked what had happened. My mother told him.
‘Have you made back up now?’ the magistrate asked.
‘Yes,’ my mother answered.
Continue reading When love ceases
By Dr Selwyn Cudjoe
February 23, 2021
Some people described the killing of Andrea Bharatt as “monstrous”, “brutal”, “horrible”, and “barbarous”. Those responsible for her death were called “monsters” or “Lucifers in the flesh”.
An autopsy showed the horrendous manner in which Andrea was killed. Rich and poor, Africans and Indians, urban and rural folks, were all repulsed by the barbarity of her killers.
Continue reading Who really are the monsters?
By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
February 15, 2021
“Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another.”
—Toni Morrison, Beloved
Faris Al-Rawi was in a fighting mood last Monday. He was not afraid to outline the depths to which we, as a people, had descended. Calling on the Opposition to support the Evidence Amendment Bill to deal with the “monsters” who had committed a heinous act against Andrea Bharatt, he declared: “Today, we have an opportunity… to stop monsters.”
Ascending to rhetorical heights, he chastised citizens who were trying to salvage a sliver of their humanity by speaking out against an inhuman strain that had arisen in our society:
Continue reading Monsters & Monstrosities
By Raffique Shah
February 15, 2021
I was wondering how many more candlelight vigils that seemed to be a genuine groundswell of public opinion on violent crimes against women would be staged in the name of abduction and murder victim Andrea Bharatt before two-by-two politicians sought to hijack what they would see as a mass movement they could ride for narrow self-interests, from photo-opportunities and media coverage to the prospect of political power.
Continue reading Do not pollute protests with politics
By Aileen Alexis
February 11, 2021
The kidnapping and murder of a young court clerk, Andrea Bharratt has evoked strong emotions from a wide cross-section of the Trinibagonian population. Protests, vigils and calls for legislation regarding the use of non-lethal weapons such as pepper spray and tasers, and the resumption of hangings have all become some of the manifestations of these emotions.
Continue reading Candles, tears and selected outrage
By Raffique Shah
February 08, 2021
THE outrage expressed by many people over the most recent case of the abduction and murder of a young woman is understandable.
We cannot believe that there exist among us depraved people who are capable of committing atrocities, inflicting extreme violence on women with seemingly consummate ease and callous detachment. It’s as if they are cast in some science fiction horror movie, acting out their darkest obsessions and cruellest fantasies, except the victims are real live people who end up very dead, sometimes mutilated and tortured before they die.
Continue reading Be careful when you hunt rapists