#BTSpeakingOut – Calling for accountability

by Nikkhil Willoughby

I am writing in relation to the story of the two young ladies who experienced the unfortunate and disturbing instance of assault on one of our local beaches, on Thursday, October 14th, 2021. The video posted to social media, went viral within 24 hours, and gained a lot of online traction and attention.

That being said, there is clearly a need for Barbadians to take stock of the ongoing reports of harassment and assault across the country and desist from turning a blind eye to these cases.

The assault in itself was nothing short of distasteful and inhumane, and I call for something to be done on behalf of those young women and on behalf of all women who have and continue to experience similar episodes of harassment.

Now, moreover, there must be some action taken by the country’s leaders, as it pertains to attitudes and statements of the responding police officers.

After reporting the incident to the police, the subsequent response time of an hour (which is way below par for an ‘acceptable’ response time) is something that needs to be addressed.

How is it that someone reports an incident of assault, and an hour later, the officers arrive? If we put this into perspective, this is the same amount of time it takes for the evening news to begin and end on local television.

Their response time is indicative of firstly the attitude of those upholding the law, towards reports of harassment and assault.

Secondly, no officer of the law should under any circumstance, say to someone, and I quote from the video, “ . . . I can see why you were assaulted…I can see why someone decided to interfere with you, because of how you were dressed…”

Is this something that Law Enforcement, let alone anyone, should say to two young women who reported their assault ordeal? Is this something members of the RBPF should be insinuating through their responses? This in unacceptable to say the least.

On top of this, the officers not taking a statement and then asking, “what do you want me to do with this?”

Again, I ask, is this acceptable? Is this the standard of law enforcement on the island? How do we protect our women, if those who are paid to uphold the law, are failing these women day by day? Would it be wrong of us to call for the badges of the responding officers? Would it be wrong for the RBPF to suspend them until further notice? That response does not cut it. As far as I know, that response does not constitute the oath they took to “Protect and Serve” the people. Would this response have been any different if these women were tourists or from outside of the region? Something needs to be done for our women. This is not the first time, and sad to say, it will not be the last. I call for parents to be held accountable for how they raise and nurture their young men.

I call for our local educational system, to make a greater effort in teaching our young men to value and respect our women.

I call for us as the Barbadian society to be responsible for our role in allowing these offenders to get away scotch free.

I call for the church to speak less and act more in our local communities on behalf of our women. I call for the men in this country, to change their ways and encourage others to respect our women.

I call for government to weed out the officers of the law, who respond to these reports with little to no urgency, interest, or respect for the safety of our women.

If people are indeed our greatest asset and resource as a nation, we are certainly doing a very poor job in aligning our actions with our words.

There must be some level of accountability, and until this attitude is corrected, our efforts will continue to be in vain.

Nikkhil Willoughby, third-year student of the UWI, Cave Hill Campus and social advocate.