Caribbean Investigative Journalism Network (https://www.cijn.org/category/crime/)
On a quiet night about 25 years ago, Ann stepped out of a work event in St Michael and into a darkness that would alter the rest of her life. The Barbados journalist, who asked to be identified by a pseudonym to protect her privacy, was robbed and raped at gunpoint while waiting for a ride in a poorly lit area. The trauma has never loosened its grip. Now, every time she leaves home, safety frames her decisions. “All of my plans are based on ensuring my personal safety,” she said.
For many Caribbean women, few places are safe from the threat of rape or sexual violence. Women report experiencing sexual violence in their workplaces and being violated by people in their towns and villages. Many times, the places that should be the safest for women are the most dangerous: their own homes. Homes are where many children–mainly young girls–are targeted for grooming, molestation and rape by a family member, neighbors or other people they know. Sexual violence of women in the region is so prevalent that Caribbean nations accounted for five of the world’s top 20 rape rates in 2019, according to the World Population Review, which studies demographics around the globe.
Survivors of sexual assault in Antigua and Barbuda endure a long road to justice. The childhood of S was shattered at age 6 when her father began a cycle of sexual abuse.
The abuse escalated, resulting in her pregnancy at 15 years old. Now 26, S (the initial of her first name) is mother to a 9-year-old daughter, a child born of unspeakable circumstances. S and her daughter share the same father. For two decades, S’s pleas for help were ignored.