The Tribune

THE responses to the death of Heavenly Terveus have continued from all quarters.

Yesterday saw comments from the National Security Minister, the Police Commissioner, and more.

As we pointed out in this column previously, the difficulty is that we must see action rather than just talk – but a lot of the groundwork for such action has already been laid.

As our columnist, Alicia Wallace, points out in today’s Tribune, an entire plan to address gender-based violence has already been created. And it hasn’t been created last week, or last month, but back in 2015. The question is whether it’s being left to gather dust or whether there will be an effort made to pick it up and work through the recommendations.

Some of the suggestions made in recent times have been practical, others less so. For example, one suggestion has been tougher sentencing for crimes – but in the case of Heavenly Terveus, the man who killed her turned the gun on himself afterwards. A tougher sentence in the court wasn’t going to deter someone set on killing himself.

Some of the commentary has been less helpful. Police Commissioner Paul Rolle yesterday said that he has told people over and over “the fella hit you once, leave, what you going back for?”

The trouble is, many people have nowhere to go. The cycle of abuse that keeps people trapped is part of the problem, and not everyone is able to leave. Time and again, victims have told stories of staying so that the abuse isn’t passed on to another relative, or because they are threatened that the abuser will hurt someone else. Others have no place to live, no safe shelter to go to.

Then there’s the question of whether the police really did enough to protect Heavenly Terveus. They looked for the man in question, but what protective measures might have been put in place that could make a difference?

All of these circumstances are nothing new – and are addressed in the strategic plan. There are building blocks already in place to take action.

The document itself though will only get so far, and we need to have a cultural shift ourselves to ensure domestic violence is not acceptable, that we do not tolerate it when we see it, when people we know talk about it. We have seen the subject be reduced to a laughing matter in the House of Assembly in the past, treated as a joke – and that’s not good enough. It’s also not good enough when discussion of issues such as marital rape are continually pushed back and not treated as a priority.

If we do not treat violence against women and children as a priority legislatively, then, of course, no one is going to take seriously talk after an incident such as this latest one.

There needs to be a clear structure for reporting and investigating, and ways to provide victims safe shelter and the encouragement they may need to press charges if they wish.

We should, in short, listen to the experts who have already given us their advice. We are already past the starting point – the research is done, the recommendations are made. Now it’s time to act.

People smugglers

The news of a boat sinking off Florida with 39 people missing includes a note that the boat set sail from The Bahamas.

The boat apparently set off from Bimini on Saturday night, according to one man found clinging to the boat 45 miles east of the Florida coast. The boat, seemingly used in a human smuggling operation, capsized in rough weather. No one was wearing life jackets.

Bimini has a relatively small population – the appearance, and subsequent disappearance of at least 40 people in connection with this boat journey might well have been noticed.

More to the point, if Bimini is being used as a launch point for a human smuggling operation, it’s unlikely no one knows anything about it. There may be people still there who are part of the deal or aware of it. Perhaps a Bahamian or two was aboard that boat as captain – so who is missing, who hasn’t been seen for a couple of days?

Someone locally knows something. What will the island’s top police officer be doing in the wake of this most likely fatal journey to track down the human smugglers in his patch?

And what about local MP Obie Wilchcombe? We have heard nothing from him in response to this smuggling operation in his constituency - never mind will he be working with law enforcement to look at the problem, will he even raise his voice to comment on the situation to start with?

There is often great criticism of the migrants making these journeys, but what about the criminals making such journeys possible? Stop the illegal networks for travel, and you at least slow down the migration. And in cases like this, maybe 39 people are still alive.