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Montserrat

In the Caribbean, Women and Girls Face Daily Threats of Sexual Violence; Getting Justice is Another Ordeal

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.

In Tiny Montserrat, Girls at the Lone High School are Targeted by Predators, Including the Once-Powerful Chief Minister

Montserrat has a child grooming problem. 

In the last decade, dozens of teenage girls have become victims to older men who target them when they enter Montserrat Secondary School—the island’s lone high school. To entrap their victims, these men give the girls cash allowances, smartphones, groceries and rides home. The victimization of young girls became so pervasive that authorities amended the island’s Road Traffic Act to restrict motorists from installing extremely dark tint film on the windows of their vehicles. Many car owners say the tint shielded them from the scorching Caribbean sun. Authorities said the tint made it easier for the men to conceal their illicit activities.