Est.2007

Barbados Underground

Bringing News and Opinions to the People

Banner promoting anonymous crime reporting with a phone and contact number 1 800 TIPS (8477), featuring the Crime Stoppers logo and a QR code for submitting tips.

Don’t Mess with Our Children

← Back

Your message to the BLOGMASTER was sent

CONTACT THE BLOGMASTER ONLY

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (friendly version) states at number 19 heading among other others of equal importance that:

Protection from Violence – Governments must protect children from violence, abuse and being neglected by anyone who looks after them.

UN Convention on the rights of the child

In recent days Barbadians have been expressing outrage in response to the report of a teenager at the Government Industrial School (GIS) recorded naked in solitary confinement. The blogmaster is acutely aware the danger of blogging about matters involving children given the inclination by some in Internet fora to be irresponsible.

Troubling to the blogmaster is the breach of the rights of the teenager occurred while under the care of government. It is not lost on the blogmaster that in other jurisdictions persons charged with the responsibility of managing the GIS would have tendered resignations forthwith.

There is no need for the blogmaster to be prolix sharing thoughts on the heinous act that has occurred at the GIS. It should never have happened. Successive governments by mediocre decision-making are responsible. Adults whether employed at the GIS or parents are responsible. The country is responsible for protecting our children. Faith Marshall-Harris is correct when she reminds us that adults have a moral and LEGAL duty to report incidents of child abuse to the authorities- even if the abuse occurred at a government institution responsible for enforcing the very rights of children.

The blogmaster congratulates children advocates who champion the rights of children every day, every week and all the time. Blogs have been posted over the years (not enough) to expose challenges children face in the country. The number of comments these types of blogs garner is always an indication of the level of public interest in these types of matters. Then there is a predictable reaction when the matter currently provoking rage occurs. We are reactive to the inevitable.

The following related links were posted on Barbados Underground in 2017 to support a similar matter.

We do not place enough importance on little problems until there is a crisis situation.

The blogmaster refuses to consider the problems were not being highlighted to the management of the GIS and at other similar institutions over time.

The blogmaster refuses to consider the problems were not being highlighted to the Board of the GIS and at other similar institutions over time.

The blogmaster refuses to consider that the problems were not being highlighted to the minister responsibly for the GIS and at other similar institutions over time.

The blogmaster refuses to consider that the problems were not being highlighted to the general population by current and former employees of the GIS and other over time.

When we make the logical conclusion what does it translate to?

Discover more from Barbados Underground

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

241 responses to “Don’t Mess with Our Children”

  1. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    The parliament and its treacherous inhabitants are an ABOMINATION IN Black/African lives and to the memories of our ancestors…

  2. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “Barbados is a signatory to the following international instruments established for juvenile justice.”

    they DON’T OBSERVE OR RECOGNIZE any of the charters, treaties and laws they are signatory to ON BEHALF OF THE BLACK POPULATION…never have, never will…..that’s why the elderly are always robbed their estates and their beneficiaries their future…

    only an international body can put pressure on them to COMPLY…like when they IGNORED all requests to legislate anti-moneylaundering etc and they were BLACKLISTED….then in no time at all the legislation appeared ATER they were RESISTING FOR YEARS..

    so unless a couple of them get DRAGGED OFF IN HANDCUFFS for violating Black human rights….they WILL NEVER STOP…-it’s very clear that they’re DETERMINED TO CONTINUE…

    ya have to put international bodies on them….

  3. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    I would agree that Barbados is a horrible place to live and that Barbadians are horrible and their politicians barbaric…..if things of this nature did not occur in the places where you people live as well.

    DO SOME RESEARCH!

    The WHOLE WORLD plays lip service to these issues!

    But…. right now I focus on the children of Barbados! Not on stroking egotistical bloggers.

    This is not about them!

    We must fix this now! This must not be forgotten in nine days!

  4. David Avatar
    David

    The minister of Home Affairs Wilfred Abrahams has scheduled a press conference at 2:30pm today.

  5. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    They love to send out their Slaves to call people liars…can’t do so now though, this says so….right along with all the others who ARE TALKING…

    “Furthermore, we call upon the authorities to not only carry out an investigation into this incident but many other matters which have been reported over the years,” the statement read.

    The correspondence also indicated that in 2014, Jabez House created and spearheaded a weekly mentorship programme, aimed at not only providing support to girls while in custody but also the provision of necessary aftercare support.

    Jabez House claimed the programme was shut down after its team of 10 mentors became aware of many injustices, cases of abuse, inappropriate conduct of staff members and revictimization of the girls in custody.”

  6. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    Marsha Hinds-Layne is out.

  7. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Everyone knows the FRAUD is stalling, waiting for everyone to forget so they can continue their human rights abuses against the Black population…..NOT THIS TIME…

    “Home Affairs Minister Wilfred Abrahams is being called out for “stalling” in the face of alleged children’s rights breaches at the Girls’ Unit of the Government Industrial School (GIS).

    And, President of the National Organisation of Women (NOW) Marsha Hinds is challenging him to declare the major differences that will set apart the latest probe from countless past investigations that have yielded little to no change.

    The women’s rights activist has also subtly suggested that in the interest of impartiality, the next inquiry should involve specialists from outside the country, whose independent findings ought to be strictly acted on.

    “The minister says he wants a report written, but there was a report written into another two incidents and nothing came out of that investigative report,” Hinds told Barbados TODAY.

    “So my question would be ‘what would be different about this particular report’? Who would do it? Are we bringing individuals from overseas so that we understand that they will give us commitments that we will follow to the letter? Why another investigation? It all sounds like stalling and grandstanding to me,” she further contended.

    The activist, who is deputy chair of the GIS board, is among numerous voices that have been amplified in the wake of a report that a 14-year-old girl was seen naked lying on the floor, in solitary confinement at the Barrow’s St. Lucy institution.

    Since then, Minister Abrahams promised a “full investigation” into the incident along with the protocols at the institution. He then condemned those responsible for breaching the child’s privacy by taking and leaking an alleged photo.

    In response, Hinds-Layne said she was “disappointed” in the response, as it appeared tone deaf and contradictory to recent promises from the Mia Mottley administration.

    “The child’s dignity was not impugned when, according to the minister, the photograph was taken. The child’s dignity was impugned when she was treated the way she was treated in a government institution, and so I am not happy,” she contended.

    “Last week, we went to Parliament and allocated taxpayers’ money to be able to create this entity in Barbados that would speak to corruption and facilitate whistleblowing. Yet in this particular instance, we have found somebody who has attempted to blow a whistle, and who was publicly chastised by the minister.

    “He has expressed his anger at the whistleblower but he has not refuted the claim and so we know that a child has gone through an experience at a government institution that is downright and simply unacceptable and I believe that she should have been brought out forthwith and reunited with her family,” Hinds-Layne added.

    The NOW president also expressed solidarity with an online movement currently being advanced by a generation of “savvy”, “educated” and “expectant” young women, under the social media banner #ProtectOurGirls. The group has presented 10 recommendations, including a mission-critical call for the closure of the penal institution.

    “I think they are clearly showing through this movement and movements in the past that they expect something different from their government and elected officials, so it makes me very proud to see them command their space… It is an issue for the youth and an issue of the youth,” Hinds-Layne explained.

    “When you get to the point where institutional abuse is deep-seated and longstanding such as at the Government Industrial School, there is no other option but to close the facility. The facility must be closed, the facility must be restructured and there must be a clear understanding moving forward that everything that has gone before is no longer acceptable and will no longer be tolerated. I really don’t see another way that you can treat to the circumstances,” she added.

    Hinds-Layne argued that government ought to prioritize the social needs of the children in their care instead of attempting to punish them unnecessarily.”

  8. David Avatar
    David

    https://youtu.be/qwmEwS1piFA

  9. TheOgazerts Avatar
    TheOgazerts

    Summary
    Investigation in the whistleblower is ongoing.
    Thorough investigation (a week) of the event but he knows nothing about the young girls at the institution.
    New Board (as expected Marsha Hinds-Layne eased out) Squeaky wheel replaced.
    Questions were much too easy,
    Strong C-

  10. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    These frauds are talking way too fast…it’s A COVER UP….shut the human rights violating blighted, cursed building down…. YALL LYING…as usual….this is not going away…..deceitful. That scam yall got going will be shut down.

    All yall should be in prison…ya much worse than these fragile kids,…they had DECADES to fix this…..AND REFUSED they will DO NOTHING now.,…JUST AS THEY DID BEFORE.

    He is so sorry, they put the VICTIM at 14 years old on $10,000 bail AFTER THEY ABUSED HER AND VIOLATED HER HUMAN RIGHTS put her in a psychiatric institution without her parents and lawyer knowing anything…that’ how sorry these beasts in suits are…..,well ya aint SORRY Enuff.

  11. Wily Coyote Avatar
    Wily Coyote

    @David

    “The minister of Home Affairs Wilfred Abrahams has scheduled a press conference at 2:30pm today.”

    Typical Bajan response, let’s schedule a photo op and do some gum flipping, SAME OLD SAME OLD.

    THE WHEEL GOES ROUND AND ROUND, NO GREASE NEEDED.

  12. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    He can say what he want, bullshitting himself…but all eyes must be kept on that school and the 6 people he replaced the old board with to shut them up….these don’t believe there is anyone slicker, more dangerous or deadlier than them…

    Theo….he cant even see where he contradicted himself…..former head of the Bar Association.

  13. TLSN Avatar
    TLSN

    A GOVERNMENT INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL!!!!

    A very odd name to call a school.

    https://gisbarbados.gov.bb/blog/resource-centre-opened-at-government-industrial-school/

    https://www.soroptimistinternational.org/

  14. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    @WURA-War-on-U March 20, 2021 3:21 PM “…shut the human rights violating blighted, cursed building down…”

    Nothing at all wrong with the building. It is actually a very nice building.

    May be nothing much wrong with the staff, that much more intense training won’t fix.

    But many questions.

    Did the child suffer deep, deep trauma long before she came to the attention of the authorities?

    Has the child and her family, because family members may also have been traumatized had access to ongoing psychotherapy to help them all deal with their trauma? If not, why not?

    Has the child been further traumatized by a predator or predators from OUTSIDE of the family. Children are sometimes victimized by people from outside of the family. The family is not always at fault. If this is the case have the authorities sought out any and all predators. And we know from reports WORLDWIDE that these predators are MOSTLY MALE. If so will HE be punished? And “no I don’t hate men. But “yes” I do hate bad men.

    Was the child further physically victimized by a MALE authority? If so will HE be punished?

    I trust that this does not end by our MALE authorities hiding behind a little girls skirts and covering for each other, while punishing a little girl.

    Some of our men are wicked and cowardly. Some are sexual predators. Some too like to girls and women.

    P.S. Please note that these same evil cowardly men are too afraid to show up for a Covid vaccine. So they strut ’bout wid big guns and even bigger mouths, but they are afraid of a little needle, but not afraid to victimize a little girl.

    I would really like to see a few MEN get locked up for this.

  15. David Avatar
    David

    Crap happens here there and everywhere as Donna correctly stated, he promised to clean it up. UNESCO is onboard, the Child Justice Bill is to be debated to assist with child matters. The protocols at the school are being reviewed. Of interest what happened to the child was a result of a worker exercising discretion because of loose protocols.

  16. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    @Crusoe March 19, 2021 7:58 AM “Ask ourselves, is out culture still suffering the long term effects, the collective PTSD from slavery and the plantation era? The treatment of the child is nothing that would be amiss, whether in a plantation yard or in Victorian England.”

    While true, how does this explain why Bajan MEN, and MEN worldwide are significantly more violent than women? Women were overworked, beaten, starved and raped in slavery too. The enslaved victims were not only male.

    I would not be surprised if it is discovered than one or more grown MEN has contributed to this GIRL’S difficulties.

    What is this child has been raped AND beaten.

    How would YOU feel if you had been raped AND beaten? And you knew that neither your rapist nor your assailant would be punished? Perhaps you too would “act out?”

  17. TLSN Avatar
    TLSN

    These stories have a history of repeating themselves.

    Check out the “Tuam babies” scandal in Northern Ireland.

    My advice to the government: close down the establishment and carry out an investigation. I would be very surprise if this is a one off case.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54693159

  18. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    No holds barred – a new board sweeps under the rug.

    A lament often heard here is, that even with 1100 lawyers we cannot find some who are willing to do pro bono work. I say “thank God”

    Given the performance, I just observed, the proverbial deer caught in the headlights, I would suggest that victims defend themselves in court instead of looking for a pro bono lawyer. Instead of the pro bono lawyer buy a lottery ticket as you would have more chances of winning something.. This guy could not punch his way out of a paper bag; he is in over his head. Even with his power as a minister, he appears totally unprepared to do any serious lifting.

    When the story first broke and I read the name of heroines, I asked that we say a prayer for Marsha Hinds-Layne. Sadly, our prayers were not answered. I believe that to target only her, would have caused an outcry and so ‘the minister’ replaced the whole board. By this action, he has demonstrated that he will leave no stone unturned in his pursuit of whistleblowers.

    It would be Machiavellian but not surprising, if members of this new board were slowly replaced by members of the old board with the exception of MLH.

    I do not know members of the new Board and I hesitate to impugn their character, but it is the nature of the system to install those who would protect its interest. Therefore, at this time, I am not expecting this new Board to sweep clean; I expect it to do what MLH did not do, sweep these matters under the rug.

  19. TLSN Avatar
    TLSN

    @ David,
    The link that I sent you was from the Government information service website (GIS) on the NOV 27, 2012.
    Under the heading
    Resource Centre Opened At Government
    Information Industrial School

    The Soroptimist International organisation which is a global voice for women donated a library and a resource center to this institution.

  20. David Avatar
    David

    The GIS has been in existence for decades and turned out many productive citizens. The government needs to improve the protocols at the GIS quickly to protect other residents be they committed or remanded.

  21. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ Cuhdear Bajan March 20, 2021 3:53 PM
    “Has the child been further traumatized by a predator or predators from OUTSIDE of the family. Children are sometimes victimized by people from outside of the family. The family is not always at fault. If this is the case have the authorities sought out any and all predators. And we know from reports WORLDWIDE that these predators are MOSTLY MALE. If so will HE be punished? And “no I don’t hate men. But “yes” I do hate bad men.”
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Shouldn’t that be “I do hate bad men” and bad “woemen” too?

    Who do you think make up the majority staff at that girls’ penal institution? Male perverts?

    Your argument would make sense if the current case was just the ‘usual’ one-off or outlier.

    But according to the reports from ‘regular Women’ acting in the capacity of advocates for those vulnerable children from S. Ross to M Hinds-Layne to FM-H the current performance by that same GIS in respect of the recent victim of child abuse is par for the course stretching back to decades.

    Stop trying to pin every evil only on men and look beyond your myopic misandrist horizon.

    You now have women in every facet of authority in Bim from top to middle to bottom.

    PS: You ought to note that most of the bloggers prosecuting this blatant case of abuse of the inalienable rights of children are indeed males possessed with an undying love of humanity and relentless promoters of the rights of those groups in society considered most at risk of abuse whether on the grounds of race, class, gender, age or ‘perceived’ sexual orientation.

  22. TLSN Avatar
    TLSN

    @ David,
    Was there a reason why you blocked my post?

  23. David Avatar
    David

    It went to spam, the blogmaster did not block the comment.

  24. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “Nothing at all wrong with the building. It is actually a very nice building.”

    you know exactly what i mean…

    the societal degradation is total on the island, but the immediate problems lay in a governance system that DOES NOT SERVE THE MAJORITY BLACK POPULATION….as we have been telling these bottomfeeding SELLOUTS for YEARS….but they are so busy selling out the people to promote and elevate THIEVES AND RACISTS…that they REFUSE TO LISTEN…it will take something earthshaking to make them understand….that violation of BLACK RIGHTS to maintain a slave society and a cancerous STATUS QUO……GOTTA GO…

  25. Crusoe Avatar
    Crusoe

    Cuhdear BajanMarch 20, 2021 4:00 PM

    I think you are taking my comment as an excuse. Not at all. The occurrence is a travesty. My likening it to Victorian England should tell where I am coming from.

    My reference to slavery is really trying to understand the amount of violence in the society. Yes, there is violence everywhere, so maybe I am talking rubbish. But, think too that video a few years back of the woman planting lashes in the girl with a piece of wood.

    It is not just men. Violence is the issue and yes, rape and beating is abhorrent. India sees total disregard for the rights of women, until it gets to court. Remember the poor girl raped on the bus?

    I cannot accept that this is normal, because they are men. That is not good enough. While the immediate occurrences need to be punished, the cause of the violent culture needs to be understood and remedied.

    Remember too, India was also colonised.

  26. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “I do not know members of the new Board.”

    the same former magistrate and “child advocate” who jumped in the newspapers to make sure nothing sticks to her, is one….so let’s see if anything gives or the same old dirty things continue to destroy the lives of children who need all the help they can get in a toxic slave society..

  27. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “UNESCO is onboard,”

    UNICEF….but you need a stronger organization to hold this government accountable AND PUNISH THEM IF THEY REFUSE to comply to observing AND ACKNOWLEDGING not only the rights of children but of the Black population as a whole, just as they observe the rights and overlook the crimes of racists and thieves…

    …..they will just wait until people forget and then ya will hear the violations start up again as if they never ended..

  28. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    @TheOGazerts March 20, 2021 11:22 AM “The GoB hopes (knows) that this hot item will fall off our radar in a matter of days. Circle the wagons, lay low, say very little, send out a few armed with the potent words ‘overseas’ and ‘diaspora’ and in a matter of days it would have scattered these keyboard warriors.”

    No it won’t.

    Some thing make the 20% in the middle decide how to vote.

    The BLP WON’T get 30 seats in the next election, and may not get a majority in the election after that.

  29. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    So a girl “wanders” away from home.

    The police get involved.

    Did the police seek to find to whom the girl had “wandered”?

    Are the police planning to arrest the ADULT MALE who was harboring the people’s girl child at HIS home?

    How come the girl was at the police station, and the ADULT MALE who encouraged her at his home was not at the police station? How come weeks later he is still walking bout sweet, sweet so.

    So we have a law against girls “wandering” but no law against bigable hard backed men harboring people’s girl children at their homes?

    Is there a law against harboring other people’s little children at your home? If there is no such law when will our authorities get such a law on the law books? And enforce it?

    I notice in the media report that the girls was charged with an offence against police. My question, did the police hit the girl first? Or are we so foolish as to believe that police never hit anybody first? Are there police in Barbados or anywhere in the world who hit people? Do these same police also hit their wives or girlfriends? Or are we so foolish to believe that all of our police are sweet Sunday school boys? If any man anywhere police or not ever hit me me I am going to hit back. NOBODY can hit me and get away with it. So if police hit the girl first how come no police person has been arrested? Do our police ever get arrested, charged, convicted and fined or imprisoned for their criminal offences, up to and including murder? If not why not?

    I am betting that our MEN will circle the wagons and seek to protect each other from a li’l unarmed girl.

    Barbados is a deeply misogynistic society. Not a failed state, but a society in which too much power, too much authority lays in the hands of MEN, men only too happy to cover evil deeds for each other. Some of whom belong to secret orders which do not admit li’l girls and some of whom collect a check from the taxpayers but their highest loyalty lies with their lodge brothers. Some of our men whom despise every woman, except perhaps the woman who gave birth to them.

    So not a failed state. But a deeply misogynistic FAILED SOCIETY.

  30. David Avatar
    David

    Do former board members have a moral duty to come public if Minister Abrahams was incorrect in his public utterances? If they remain silent one would have to credit the minister?

  31. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Barbados is famous for covering up, especially crimes against the Black population….we have seen over and over, they just can’t be trusted to do the right things as it relates to Black rights….it’s a stain on them..

    “by Michael Ray

    The entire population of Barbados should be proud of Ms. Marsha Hinds-Layne.

    She must also be highly commended and fully supported for her role and stance as a member of the advisory Board of the Government Industrial School (Girls).

    Holding true to the mantra “If you see something, say something”, Ms. Hinds-Layne has broken the proverbial sound-barrier and has created a sonic boom that is reverberating across various media.

    It is one thing to proclaim and protect the rights and the privacy of children, it is a completely different matter to institute any gag order that will cover-up wrong-doing and injustice – the two can easily and conflictingly overlap creating chaos.

    Sadlyly, there is a subtle underground fear factor existing in pockets of the Barbadian society that must be eradicated if we are to make positive strides and the progress we so desperately seek.

    The fear factor emboldens gag orders and is a hindrance to the achievement of desired goals.

    Noted religious and political leader of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, once declared: “There really can be no peace without justice.

    There can be no justice without truth, unless someone rises up to tell you the truth”.

    May all Barbadians stand in solidarity with Ms. Marsha Hinds-Layne and the supporting Youth Groups in their quest for Truth, Justice and what is Right.”

  32. TLSN Avatar
    TLSN

    It would appear that some individuals at the government industrial school practise horrors on an industrial scale against a number of young people over several decades.

    Why has this government not decommissioned this industrial complex?

    Answer: black lives, especially poor black lives counts for very little in Barbados.

    The remnants of our slave heritage remains embedded in how we are governed.

  33. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    New Board is a great start.

    Next should be an investigation into the treatment of the children

    From Dodds to Bush Hill ?.

  34. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    I started to listen to the Minister but was called away and I missed it but based on what has been reported here the Board is going to be replaced which means that the individual who reported some of the illegal acts at the institution to the Minister will no longer be there. Good move to remove a thorn from your side Minister Abraham and CYA (Cover your Ass)in the process , way to show that the buck stopped elsewhere.

  35. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    Just saw this and all I have to say is “Wow!Wow! and Wow!!!
    +++++
    However, the Minister of Home Affairs said that acting on the advice of independent professionals and agencies, such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), he has given instructions that the age old practice of children being detained in isolation under circumstances that are less than acceptable is archaic and unwarranted in the 21st century, and must be stopped immediately.
    ++++++++++++++
    The Minister and the people in his department had to be advised of this? Perhaps UNICEF should send someone to support his Dept. like how the IMF lent Dr. Greenidge to bail out the Ministry of Finance.

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2021/03/20/no-plans-to-close-gis/

  36. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    @cuhdear
    I ama bit disappointed with your efforts here. As the average Joe I must comment.

    “I am betting that our MEN will circle the wagons and seek to protect each other from a li’l unarmed girl.”.
    ***What do you think I am? I have not joined any circle.

    “Barbados is a deeply misogynistic society. Not a failed state, but a society in which too much power, too much authority lays in the hands of MEN, men only too happy to cover evil deeds for each other.”
    **Stop it. Most of us abhor evil deeds.

    Some of whom belong to secret orders which do not admit li’l girls and some of whom collect a check from the taxpayers but their highest loyalty lies with their lodge brothers.
    ** No secret order; no government paycheck.

    “Some of our men whom despise every woman, except perhaps the woman who gave birth to them.”
    *”Stop it. I love women, almost every woman. I love and have been honest to my wife (she is not my mother).

    “So not a failed state. But a deeply misogynistic FAILED SOCIETY.”
    ** So not a failed state; a failing state rife with misandrists.

    Let’s join hands and fight this nastiness without nAme calling.

  37. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    “However, the Minister of Home Affairs said that acting on the advice of independent professionals and agencies, such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), he has given instructions that the age old practice of children being detained in isolation under circumstances that are less than acceptable is archaic and unwarranted in the 21st century, and must be stopped immediately.”

    Our resident “mad woman” is always talking about still having slave laws on the book. Don’t tell me she is right on this as well.

  38. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    Not you Theo. You seem to be a reasonable person.

  39. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    My perception of the GIS saga has been tarnished by the many incidences of atrocities comitted against children in CANADA.

    Barbados is special so doan mine me. My suspicion of criminality and routine abuse only happened in residential schools in CANADA.

  40. BAJE Avatar
    BAJE

    MANY OF YOU FORGET THAT THE LEADER HERSELF YOUR PRESIDENT
    IS A KNOWN ABUSER OF WOMEN BOTH MATURE AND YOUNG INCLUDING BEING RENOWNED FOR CHEWING ON A FEMALE CLIT OR WAS IT A BITE.

    THE 2 X 3 ISLAND IS A SICK SOCIETY ALWAYS PRETENDING ALL IS WELL.

    I BELIEVE THAT THIS YOUNG WOMAN WAS ASSAULTED BY LOCAL POLICE MANY OF THEM CRIMINALS THEMSELVES WHO SHOULD BE EXPERIENCING JAIL LIKE CONDITIONS.

    MANY MANY POLICE IN BIM TAKE MAJOR LIBERTIES. RAMPANT LIARS WITH MOST BEING UNDERACHIEVERS FROM HIGH SCHOOL WITH CHIPS ON THEIR SHOULDERS.

    ABUSE OF THE PEOPLE AND WITHIN THE SYSTEM IS PAR FOR THE COURSE ON THE FAILED 2 X 3 ISLAND.

  41. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    The politics of a BLACK MAJORITY vs MINORITIES can go along the same lines as Nationalism / Populism / Racism / Extremism and become a numbers game like Trump and Brexit and it’s racial psyops. There is a fine line between calling out injustices and implementing them which should not be crossed in the same way as racism against Indians on BU was prevalent until it was called out and checked. Seems like there are lots of wannabe Idi’s out here.

  42. TLSN Avatar
    TLSN

    The principal of the Government Industrial School, Ronald Brathwaite, stated :

    “The Government Industrial School is a safe place for all children that come to it, There are numerous boys and girls who would have come through the school and their circumstances would have been enhanced from being at the school.”

    A standard reply aimed at reassuring the public that all is well.

    History should tell us that this such institutions are largely self-regulated. We had in the UK a celebrity called Jimmy Saville who had open access to such institutions. After his death, an investigation was carried out where it was proven that he was a mass abuser of young people over several decades.

    I would repeat my advice to the government close the school with immediate effect and carry out an investigation going back thirty years.

    The GIS is a discredited organisation and is not worth protecting.

  43. David Avatar
    David

    Hinds-Layne queries removal of board
    By Colville Mounsey colvillemounsey@nationnews.com
    Former deputy chairman of the Government Industrial School (GIS), Marsha Hinds-Layne, says she is far from satisfied with the promised overhauls to the state-run juvenile correctional institution which were outlined yesterday by Minister of Home Affairs Wilfred Abrahams.
    The institution came under fire this week after this newspaper broke the news of a 14-year-old girl who was placed in solitary confinement, also known as the “suicide cell”, naked and on a concrete floor in the girls’ unit.
    Among the major changes announced by Abrahams during a live press conference was the removal of the entire board, with three months still to go on their tenure.
    Hinds-Layne, who strongly agitated on the girl’s behalf while being highly critical of the institution’s operations, questioned the rationale of removing the board responsible for exposing the alleged injustice, while keeping the school administration that was responsible for committing it.
    She said that she learnt of the dissolution of the board five minutes before yesterday’s press conference, adding that no mention was made of it when the board met with the minister as recently as four days ago. She said she fully expected there would be consequences after her decision to go public with the matter.
    “I heard the minister talk about removing the current board. I heard him say that he had all confidence in his staff and I heard him acknowledge that while the incident happened, it was standard operating procedure.
    “I certainly cannot say that the minister’s tone was apologetic. I think it was more of an admission that what was reported as a concern was accurate,” said Hinds-Layne.
    “The board at the school is an advisory board. It does not hire and it does not fire. The sole purpose of the board is to have oversight of what is happening and to raise concerns. So, if that is what the current board was doing and our term expires in July, I would be happy if the minister could share with the public what triggered the firing of the entire board,” she added.
    Focus on children
    When contacted after the press conference, Abrahams said his focus was now on the children at that institution, adding he was not prepared to comment on the decision to replace the board.
    “My concern now is to go through that institution and ensure that the children get the care that we are supposed to provide for them. That is my sole concern. The announcement was made at the press conference and the persons would be getting their instruments in due course,” he said.
    Hinds-Layne said the minister’s action against the board was in keeping with someone upset that the issue was “outed” as opposed to effecting meaningful change.
    She added that it was unlikely that meaningful change could occur within the institution if Government was to persist with the same gatekeepers of the now frowned upon institutional culture.
    “If an overhaul is coming and you realise that you have these issues, you realise that standard practice is not only about what the rules say can happen, standard practice is also about the culture of the organisation.
    “So if you are going to lock up a child in a cell naked last week, are you suddenly going to start doing everything that the Convention On The Rights Of The Child says you should do? I don’t see it working that way. Usually, in a situation like this, when heads roll, the heads that roll are the heads responsible.
    “Yet the heads of the board who have no ability to control the staff or the day-to-day function are the heads that rolled. The ones who presided over this being standard operational procedure are still in place. The words and the action don’t add up,” she said.

    Source: Nation

  44. David Avatar
    David

    An organization is people not a building. All agree there is a need for a place where deviant children can be committed. Do you prefer to send them to Dodds?

  45. David Avatar
    David

    Teen ‘preferred Dodds Prison’ over GIS
    By Maria Bradshaw mariabradshaw@nationnews.com
    An attorney at law who was hired by a mother in 2017 after her teenage daughter said she was placed in solitary confinement at the Government Industrial School (GIS) for more than 60 consecutive days believes this may be one of the first cases where a mother asked the court to transfer her child to HMP Dodds Prison because she was afraid for her safety.
    Attorney Michelle Russell spoke to the Sunday Sun after the mother gave her permission to highlight the situation involving the child, which occurred four years ago at the GIS.
    That child was so fed up and frustrated at how she was being treated at the school that she attempted to burn down the Barrows, St Lucy reform institution by setting a mattress on fire and lying down on the burning mattress.
    Russell said the girl ended up being charged with arson.
    “We went to court and asked the magistrate to transfer her from GIS to HMP Dodds,” the lawyer revealed, pointing out that she served two years without any incident at the adult prison.
    The attorney explained that she got involved in the case after the child had escaped from the reform institution and was placed in solitary confinement for many days.
    “I was retained by her uncle because the family had not been allowed to see her or contact her and they had heard that she was in solitary confinement for two months. They felt that was cruel and inhumane punishment.”
    When Russell visited the school, the then 16-year-old was indeed in a cell.
    Was cruel
    “Management was telling me that she was only there for six weeks, but she told me that she was there for two months and I was inclined to believe that was true, which I found was cruel and it clearly had a negative effect on her because she was secluded for that long.
    “When I first met her she was 16, but she had the mental maturity of a 12-year-old. She wasn’t good at equating cause and effect and the consequence.
    “So you put a girl with the mental capacity of 12 or 13 in solitary confinement for two months, what do you think will happen? she asked.
    The lawyer also revealed that the girl complained about a “particular worker who used to provoke and rile her up and then punish her”.
    “So I was teaching her how to ignore that.”
    Russell said she was also amazed at the “pushback” she, as the child’s attorney, received from management, especially when she sought to find out why she had been treated at the Psychiatric Hospital and why she was placed on antidepressants.
    “We discovered that they had her on antidepressants and they had never informed the mother and did not seek her permission. I had about seven different meetings with the principal between the period August 10, 2017, and October 9, 2018. We got so much pushback,” she said, as she recalled that the psychiatrist “refused to deal with the family to give an update on the child’s mental status once I was going to be there because she did not think a lawyer needed to be present”.
    Russell recalled: “They tried to schedule a meeting with the family in my absence and when I contacted Celeste Bradshaw (acting deputy principal), she said I needed to learn to respect the protocols of GIS, that it was a family meeting and there was no reason for me to be there. So, they literally had no regard for even a legal representative.”
    Decision overturned
    However, that decision was overturned when she contacted the now retired principal Erwin Leacock.
    “One of the things the psychiatrist emphasised was that GIS was the legal guardian of the child, so she does not need the permission of the parents to counsel or put her on medication.” Russell said she also got another psychiatrist to assess the child and the conclusion was that the girl was not depressed.
    “The psychiatrist suspected she had a personality disorder and they would have to do a full assessment but needed the permission of GIS to do it. GIS refused to give permission. We were proposing to Mr Leacock that we be allowed to get her independent psychological evaluation and counselling and this is where we got the most pushback. They became oppositional; they became defensive; they didn’t want her to have any independent counselling. It was either their psychologist or no psychologist at all.”
    Russell said the discussion then turned to the child’s early release since she had settled down somewhat.
    “She only had about four or five months left and then she acted out. She took some girl’s sleeping pills and then set her bed on fire. When I met with her and asked her why did you jeopardise your early release, this is the thing that stood out for me the most. She said she didn’t believe it and she couldn’t stand the thought of having to stay there any longer . . . .”
    Russell also revealed that she still possessed nine letters which the girl wrote and sneaked to her during her visits.
    “If you read the letters, she says one thing she is learning up there is mankind is wicked and she didn’t know people could be so evil. She called it a hellhole; she said the food was dog food. She hated it there, everything about it. Her writing wasn’t about her freedom being taken away – it was more about the treatment.”
    Russell got attorney at law Kirstin Turton to represent the child at her criminal trial and it was then that they got the court to order the psychological assessment, which found that the girl had a psychological disorder.
    She was so happy
    The attorney said she was astounded when she delivered the news to the girl that she would be transferred to Dodds.
    “I thought she was going to cry but she was so happy. She said this way she wouldn’t have to worry about the workers down there anymore and probably she would get treated better and get better food. She went up to prison and she never complained. She didn’t give any trouble and everything was fine.”
    From a legal perspective, Russell said: “I think the process needs to be transparent. There is a lack of transparency at that school; there is a lack of consistency; there was too much red tape, too much back and forth. I don’t believe an institution can supersede the rights of a parent when it comes to medical decisions of a child . . . .’ Yet she praised the former principal, pointing out that he helped her and was the saving grace when she got pushback from other management.
    ‘She only had about four or five months left and then she acted out.
    She took some girl’s sleeping pills and then set her bed on fire.’


    Source: Nation

  46. David Avatar
    David

    Bajans’ problem with sight
    I am always a little shocked at what shocks Barbadians. I shouldn’t be.
    Denial is a river that runs deep through Africa and her children.
    Bajans have a saying: “See and doan see.” We are good at it. But there is a time to see and a time to doan see.
    And every time Bajans are shocked by a trending event as though they are seeing reality for the first time, I feel a little like lyrical master No. 1, RPB, who sang in 2007, Bajans Can’t See.
    If you were shocked by the story of the 14-year-old girl, who was made to lie naked in a cell on a concrete floor, you may need an ophthalmologist.
    You are not seeing well. Somehow you do not see that Barbados’ untreated history of violence, must manifest in some way today. It manifests in a callous attitude to the most vulnerable. If you do not see that many of our institutions are just not working right, it might be that Bajans do have a problem with sight.
    Seeing red
    It may not be that we can’t see.
    It may be that we don’t want to see.
    Minister of Home Affairs, Wilfred Abrahams, had Bajans seeing red with his initial reaction to the situation with the teenager, who was seen on video suffering at the hands of the state. The impression given was that the abuse of her privacy was the worst abuse the minister was willing to see in the situation. He has since said this is not the case.
    I find it hard to be too hard on the current administration which, I can see, is dealing with probably the hardest situation that any Barbadian administration ever saw. But, certain things you can’t not point out. It’s hard to ignore that the instinctive reaction of ministers of Government when inconvenient situations are highlighted seems to be to hunker down, defend, or lash out, often at the messenger.
    When the Nation newspaper asked Minister Abrahams about the staff member of the Government Industrial School who was allegedly removed for complaining about abuse at the school, his response as reported in the Nation newspaper was, “The temporary contract of Monique Hoyte, maid assigned to GIS at Barrows, St Lucy, ended on December 31, 2020, and she was not reassigned to the GIS by the People Resourcing and Compliance Directorate of the Ministry of the Public Service.
    “The GIS was not aware that Miss Hoyte was dismissed and never made any recommendations regarding the dismissal of Miss Hoyte.”
    I can’t help but see how much this sounds like the infamous comment from Prime Minister Freundel Stuart when he said that as far as he was concerned, “temporary means temporary”.
    Escape hatch
    It is a convenient escape hatch when a situation gets out of hand. But it doesn’t look good. What the public sees, especially when the board of the Government Industrial School is then removed, is a case of “shoot the messenger”.
    But hey, the appointment was temporary, right?
    It is clear to see that the instinct to defend, to cover up, to obfuscate is widespread and long-standing in Barbadian politics. But we hoped for better. Because, even though this Government is probably the most challenged in Barbadian history, it is also probably the most powerful. It has the most leverage to deal straight.
    But in times of pressure, defaults and instincts can take over. Under pressure of bright lights, the Minister of Tourism claimed no awareness of racial issues in the tourism sector.
    The former Minister of Tourism proudly proclaimed that he is not interested in Nelson’s statue, only with feeding and sheltering Barbadians, as if Barbadians were livestock.
    “Brandy and Punani” flowed easily from the Attorney General’s mouth even as he choked back the identity of the West Coast clusters. And, with the public announcement that any idiot can play cricket, this administration and its supporters often end up looking like they have a problem with insight. As if hunker down, defend, or lash out are the default instincts.
    Hurdles higher
    But alas, until one of them fantasises in Parliament about cracking heads and shooting people, it will be hard for them to really look bad. So low the bar has been set.
    Unfortunately, the hurdles are higher than ever and require more enlightened mindsets than ever. We are all set to become a republic.
    It will be a step in the right direction when our politicians no longer pledge allegiance to the Queen of England, and the people of Barbados get exclusive rights to their representation. But if the move to republic is not matched by an elevation of consciousness among those who lead us, many will not be moved by it.
    Hindsight over successive administrations allows us to see that this problem is endemic. If only this was only a problem with politicians.
    But, generally it seems that Bajans don’t want to see. So politicians can show you wuh dey want to show you.
    Adrian Green is a communications specialist.

    Source: Nation

  47. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    You have to make your body become your life story
    in other words
    Exercise or die

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ6bDXNa4Jk

  48. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    He neglected to say HOW LONG THAT SLAVE LAW has been on the statute books and HOW MANY DECADES people were requesting, begging, pleading and DEMANDING that it be removed, and none of these FRAUDS voluntarily removed it, but weaponized it against the islands Black children…..generationally…until it blew up on them and exposed them all.

    Theo…Mia got on ITV London only last year and ADMITTED that the Black population was MENTALLY ENSLAVED….none of us made that up, she said it for tens of millions and even billions to hear, then proceeded IN THEIR USUAL STYLE OF DOING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT IT…..to do nothing…whether she was advertising for slave masters or not to keep the population under further bondage….she exposed it herself…we were saying so for YEARS and they were denying it every time.

    then Prof. Hilary got on a conference with EU and told them the obvious, that Barbados and by extension the other Caribbean islands ARE STILL SLAVE SOCIETIES….and it appears he FULLY EXPECTS UK and EU to dismantle them and not they themselves as leaders DOING IT to free the population from the parasitic cancerous minorities numbering less than 8 thousand leaches, living off their lives….and act as though they are not the ones who have the island’s LEGISLATURE UNDER THEIR CONTROL as LEADERS…..not EU or UK…but when ya PLAN TO DO NOTHING to make a situation better for African blood people, YOU DEFLECT and blame others for your own shortcomings…

    “Home Affairs Wilfred Abrahams who also announced during a press conference today that there are plans to remove wandering from the law books.

    This week, there was much public discussion and outrage after a 14-year-old young lady was photographed naked in a cell at the GIS.

    Abrahams, who did not give an in-depth analysis into the investigations regarding that particular incident, said the circumstances, which led to the young lady being placed in isolation without critical pieces of clothing, was considered, as of Friday, consistent with normal practices and circumstances at the institution”

  49. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “But in times of pressure, defaults and instincts can take over. Under pressure of bright lights, the Minister of Tourism claimed no awareness of racial issues in the tourism sector.
    The former Minister of Tourism proudly proclaimed that he is not interested in Nelson’s statue, only with feeding and sheltering Barbadians, as if Barbadians were livestock.”

    PRETENDERS, FRAUDS and LIARS…i wonder if he looked after his INJURED CLIENT who has been begging for his personal injury case to be completedl more than 8 years later…the man and his family also has bellies to feed..

    “Brandy and Punani” flowed easily from the Attorney General’s mouth even as he choked back the identity of the West Coast clusters.”

    they DESTROY THE YOUNGER GENERATION THEMSELVES…cover up all the filth related to dependency tourism, always have….dirty, nogood politicians……we are seeing the results in the dire social upheaval, rot and decay in the social fabric…..the people need to stay very far away from all of them, with their toxic mindsets, outright lies and cover up scams..

  50. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    Mia confronted Brits about the shipping Port for British Slave Trade in Americas in the Plantation land of Barbados was still suffering from the legacy of slavery infamy and Hilary repeated his call that reparations are overdue for the biggest crime to humanity in history. Both are commendable positions despite what the peanut gallery are yelling. Stop being fuck.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5J6q3_R5gs

The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.

Trending

Discover more from Barbados Underground

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading