The murder of Shannon Banfield took T&T “by storm” because of the brazen manner in which it was done.
General manager of the Rape Crisis Society and the T&T Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Natalie O’Brady, said: “Many persons were taken aback by the brazenness of the perpetrators where a woman is no longer safe in a public, highly-trafficked, highly-populated place.”
Speaking during a town meeting hosted by the T&T Transparency Institute at the Port-of-Spain City Hall on Tuesday, O’Brady said Banfield’s murder was even more scary as it hammered home the fact that, “A woman is no longer safe when doing her daily duties of shopping and getting stuff for herself.”
Quoting media reports which claimed 34 women had been killed up to October 8, O’Brady said the public was bombarded daily by pictures and pleas on social media, for help to locate loved ones reported missing.
Questioning what was happening in society today, O’Brady estimated that one in three girls would be sexually violated before the age of 18.
Concerned about statistics from the Police Service which revealed a total of 6,000 domestic violence reports had been received during the period 2012 to 2014, O’Brady said the judiciary’s annual report indicated there were 12,000 applications for domestic violence before the courts.
Claiming domestic and sexual violence continued to the “silent crime,” O’Brady said many women refused to come forward and report it due to varying factors including economic and personal reasons.
Urging people to take responsibility for their actions, founder of the non-governmental organisation SHIFT! Caribbean, Alicia Small said personal development and the overall growth of the country could not take place if people failed to accept responsibility for doing/not doing what they promised.
Speaking on the issue of parents being too over-protective, Wheeler warned that children today were busy making friends online via their computers and tablets, which was one of the most popular places being trolled by persons with hidden agendas.
Wheeler presented several different scenarios depicting human trafficking highlighting motive and opportunity.
She urged persons to beware of “too good to be true” opportunities advertising domestic and employment opportunities as that was one way persons were being trapped.
Wheeler implored people to report any suspicious or illegal activity to the CTU.