UWI To Host Panel Discussion On Sexual Violence Awareness And Response
Sexual violence continues to affect individuals across Trinidad and Tobago, often perpetrated by someone known to the victim. This underscores an urgent need for prevention and awareness.
President of the Sexual Assault Survivors Stand, Soleil Marie Collins, outlined several key indicators that can help individuals recognise behaviours and traits commonly associated with sexual offences, stressing the importance of awareness and early identification.
« Under the Sexual Offences Act, sexual assault is understood as assault – something done onto a person without someone’s consent, whether it be that they force it onto you or if it is that it’s done through threats, intimidation, coercion. It can be in the forms of harassment, intimate touching, non-consensual intimate images, and it is unfortunately a cultural norm where persons dismiss it because it is so normal in today’s society. »
Ms. Collins announced that a forthcoming conference hosted by the University of the West Indies will include panel discussions examining the social, mental, cultural and legal dimensions of sexual violence in Trinidad and Tobago, aimed at fostering greater awareness, encouraging informed dialogue, and strengthening responses to the issue across society.
« On Thursday, April 9th, from 1:30pm to 4:30pm, the Sexual Assault Survivors Stand, in collaboration with the UWI Institute of Gender and Development Studies, we are having a panel discussion signifying the 25 years stronger we will be having panellists: a criminal lawyer, a psychologist, a fellow NGO advocate, we have a medical doctor as well as a lecturer from the UWI. »
