Dear Editor,

A recent viral video of a woman being beaten in a Range Rover reminded me of the many women in our society who are helpless in a country that seems to care very little about our female population.

I remember, not too long ago, one morning my ex-secretary came to work battered and bruised. She reported her battery to the police and followed all the instructions to get the required medical reports. In the end, no one ever visited the abuser or followed up on her case. Her solution was to leave the country.

I think about the many women who are unable to leave the country. What is their plight? I am aware of another case in which a woman’s life was being threatened, she could not report the matter as the man involved had “links” with the police service. Any report would have led to more threats and perhaps her eventual death. She, too, has left the country.

Many of our women are abused daily, both verbally and physically, and their children grow up seeing the abuse and over time conclude that abuse is a normal part of life in some communities.

I personally know of too many women who lived through abuse, some who still live with abuse and know that there is no one to turn to for relief. I remember a friend saying that when her husband was beating her, she ran home to her parent’s house. While there, he came and continued to beat her in front of her siblings and parents, and they did nothing.

Why are the authorities so silent on this issue? Where is the support and outcry from our churches?

Steve Alvarez

Trinidad and Tobago

bilcoa@hotmail.com