The National Organisation of Women (NOW) has taken the Barbados’ judiciary to task for what it deems to be double standards in sentencing policy.
Following a public outcry on social media in response to a man who assaulted his child’s mother receiving what has been perceived as a mild sentence when compared to the sentenced dealt to a Bajan artiste who “performed” from the counter of Chefette Restaurant, NOW has written to Chief Justice Sir Marston Gibson outlining its concerns.
The body is complaining about the disparate sentencing policies and President Marsha Hinds said they are awaiting a response to the letter which has been copied to Attorney General Dale Marshall and Magistrate Douglas Frederick.
“If one individual jumps up on the counter of a fast food restaurant and another person abuses the mother of his child, and one gets jail and one doesn’t then we would have to conclude that fast food counters are more important in Barbados than the lives of women and girls. Obviously, that is a very discomforting feeling to recognise as a woman living in Barbados,” Hinds said.
On Friday January 3, shopkeeper Quincy Orlando John, 39, was ordered by Magistrate Frederick to compensate his child’s mother Natasha Lewis after he pleaded guilty to causing her bodily harm during an argument on December 27, when she went back to his home to collect their three-year-old daughter. According to the facts outlined in court, the matter led to John attempting to gain access to Lewis’ vehicle armed with a cutlass. It was also reported that Lewis, who once lived with John, ended the relationship because he had become abusive.
Magistrate Frederick concluded that John was not a fit candidate for prison and placed him on a bond to keep the peace for six months. If he breaches it he will have to pay $1,500 forthwith or spend one month in prison. The matter was adjourned until January 10 when the complainant will be present in court.
Meanwhile, that same day, Magistrate Frederick sentenced artiste Timothy Rugrat St Pierre to one week in prison after he admitted to entering Chefette’s Lower Broad Street branch and misconducting himself by behaving in an annoying manner on December 31, 2019. The magistrate said failure to treat the offence as a serious one might result in a trend being set.
“There is a lot that is highly problematic. First of all, the fact that we seem to have a magistrate still on the Bench who believes that he can identify by physical characteristics, men who would beat women, is problematic. He is saying you are not the usual type of man I see here, something must have gone wrong.
“We have fought for years as advocates to dispel those myths that men, offset by someone, beat women. In the very case it had said that woman had indeed ended this relationship because of partner violence.
“So at the point where she is going to the court now for a remedy, the court actually diminishes her reality discounting that she is saying that this is something that happened across time,” Hinds said.
The president lamented that she has taken licks in various quarters for complaining about the manner in which judicial officers treat to domestic violence in Barbados.
She indicated that while Barbados was on the cusp of starting a family court, she believes there would be no change in the way the judiciary treats domestic abuse cases, if the attitudes of judicial officers do not change.
“There are a lot of people in the setting who do not understand domestic violence. They do not seem to have the ability to be empathetic with victims, and a lot of them seem to be making decisions without the full support of the system. And with the system I am talking about psychological reports that are necessary, access to counselling, and a whole range of services,” she said.
The president said NOW continues to be concerned that women who leave abusive relationships are forced to return to drop off or collect children they share with the spouse.
“With the amendments to the Protection Orders Act in 2016, one of the things that we fought hard for was that intimate partner violence should automatically be counted as child abuse because research has long since shown the linkage between children who grow up watching and experiencing intimate partner violence and the perpetration of intimate partner violence,” Hinds said.
She continued: “So the fact is that you have a man who is alleged to have abused his child’s mother, but who still has access to his child. That is problematic. So if we are saying that domestic violence now counts as child abuse there has to be some mechanism to rehabilitate him before he can be in his child’s life in a positive manner. I am not advocating for them to lose full parental rights, but I am advocating for their parental rights to be curtailed until they do the kind of training that is necessary.”
anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb
