I started serving as the deputy chair of the Government Industrial School in Barbados (called the GIS), on the appointment of the Governor General and at the pleasure of the Minister responsible for reformatory schools on August 1, 2018. I must admit that although by that time I had been working with women and girls’ advocacy for just about 18 years I did not know much about the school. Every child who grows up in Barbados will get a threat or two about being sent to the school for being ‘own way’ but the truth is not many people who grow up in middle or upper class Barbados will ever interact with the institution.
The Government Industrial School was opened in 1883, forty-nine years after the abolition of slavery in the British Caribbean. The major purpose of the school was to house children who did not have parents or whose parents did not have the means to provide for their children. The Industrial Schools across the Caribbean extracted free labour from children in exchange for shelter and clothing. Flogging was allowed in the Schools and researcher, Dr. Shani Roper reported in a recent online forum on the topic of “Children in State Care” that records show that Barbados used the most flogging. The early 1900s saw the passage of two pieces of legislation – the Reformatory and Industrial Schools (1926) and the Juvenile Offenders Act (1936). These two pieces of legislation are still what govern the fate of children inside the juvenile justice system in 2022 Barbados. Despite the amendments to the Act over the years it is still archaic and ill-suited to govern a modern juvenile justice approach. It is gaps such as this in colonial repair that tempered my excitement about Barbados becoming a republic in November 2021. If you are still governing the future of Barbados under repressive, colonial law, what sense is it to expend money we borrowed from the International Monetary Fund on extravagant ceremony when the lives of the majority of Barbadians stand to see no improvement or material change?
A part of the responsibility of the Board of the School was to conduct inspections to ensure that all was well with the various stakeholders within the School. The fact that I had enough audacity to actually carry out the inspections was what eventually led to me losing the pleasure of the Minister and being fired in March 2021, for choosing to whistle blow publicly when I learnt of a 14-year-old girl resident being held naked in a cell under the conditions of solitary confinement. That incident was not where my journey with anomalies related to the children in care began. It was very much the ‘straw that broke donkey’s back’. When I started the tenure, the institution was run by an individual who was very proud to note that he had been at the institution since 1982. He had grown accustomed to commanding the institution with no reporting lines and no oversight from anyone. He was not required to write annual reports nor financial reports. Although the School is a government entity, it had never attracted the attention of the auditor general nor other state control mechanisms like the Child Care Board. The administration did not take kindly to my questioning or inspection. On my first visit to the Government Industrial School, I requested to see the breakfast service for the male residents of the School. Numerous people had reached out to me with complaints about how the children of the facility were being fed. That visit, breakfast was served around 8: 30 in the morning. I remember asking whether dry cereal and fruit was put out before that. I was told that it was not. The reason for my question was that the residents of the GIS would have been accustomed to a routine that required them to be at school by 8:30 in the morning. Many of them, unless they lived across the road from the school they attended would have had to be awake between 5:30 and 6:00 in the morning to catch school buses or other types of transportation to school. Having breakfast at 8:30 put them 3 hours behind their usual schedule.
The breakfast served at 8:30 consisted of canned spam fried with two or three crackers per boy and a cup of hot chocolate. There was no water offered, there was no fruit offered and there were no alternative food selections. The breakfast offered was not enough to satisfy teenaged boys. Trying to report what I had seen quickly brought me into another realization about the set up of the School. The Board of the Government Industrial School is advisory. That means that the Board only creates policy positions and passes those onto the Minister. Based on how government structures in the Caribbean work, the Minister would then have to pass the requests back to the permanent secretary of the Ministry who then instruct the senior administrative staff of the school. The cumbersome reporting lines are a part of the disconnect in policy and practice at the School.
The second major concern for me was the lack of educational and skills training programming at the School. The GIS is housed under the Ministry of Home Affairs, like the adult prison facility. There is no official document or memorandum of understanding establishing a status between the School and the Ministry of Education. There is no clear protocol on whether residents remain on the register of their substantive schools. The residents who can continue schooling in regular educational settings are not allowed to do so. There is an ad hoc programme of education offered by the staff of the GIS, but there is no curriculum developed, there are no individual educational plans created for the children and the ones who do complete Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) certification are largely self taught. In contravention of the rights of children deprived of their liberty, children who complete CXC while resident at the GIS have that printed on their certificates. In a small society like Barbados that is a branding that is hard to overcome in the job market.
A third frustration I quickly ran into was how the outdated and archaic frameworks for juvenile justice in Barbados were continuing to have negative impacts on children in the juvenile justice system. Although there were mounds of policy documents, reports about concerns that UNICEF had highlighted and commitments to update laws and change practices at the mistrial and governmental levels, the same abuse that was outlined by residents of the institution as far back as the 1980s and continued under my tenure as deputy chair. Simple actions had not been taken. For instance, UNICEF reclassified children in the juvenile justice system into children in conflict with the law and children in need of care. Given the history of the industrial schools in Barbados and the Caribbean, where children were criminalized at Emancipation or in the interwar years for not having family or for being poor, these two clear streams of children was an important step in terms of modernizing the juvenile justice system. It paved the way for the removal of old archaic charges such as wandering to be discarded. There are institutional abuses at both sections of the Government Industrial School but the charge of wandering has gender specific implications for girls.
Girls who were facing family instability, which often resulted from them being raped or molested were being charged for wandering as they tried to escape abuse. Girls who were in other state facilities and facing abuses who tried to escape these environments were charged with wandering. Girls who had started normal teenaged exploration of sex with boys in similar age category to them were charged with wandering. In many cases, these children only came into contact with the juvenile justice system because their parents reached out to the state apparatus to try to seek help and support for their children and not because they wanted them incarcerated. The parents were then overruled when their children were made wards of the court and although their parental rights were never officially revoked, they lost the ability to make medical decisions for their children, educational decisions or further decisions about legal outcomes. When girls are charged with wandering in Barbados, they are forced to have vaginal examinations as a part of the police investigation process. They are given the morning after pill as well. Even if attorneys at law representing the children or parents do not give consent, these measures are taken.
The juvenile justice system in Barbados is completely broken and despite the country having international obligations under conventions such as CEDAW, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Convention of Belém do Pará, old colonial practices persist. The Minister has a substantial amount of power to change the situation at the GIS. While the previous Minister has released some of the children in the facility in need of care, under the current Minister girls charged for wandering continue to be criminalized. Unless the region and the world pay attention, the children of Barbados will not be safe. Coloniality has killed out national conscience and only worldwide outrage can awaken change.
This is the state of our country in many areas. A persistent and consistent cover up of decadent, corrupt state apparatus. From the time, I started to contribute to BU. every single malfeasance has been countered with retorts such as; it happens everywhere; Barbados is no worse than anywhere else; you come here throwing shade; yuh don’t live ‘ bout hey and a pathetic attempt to avoid dealing with the problems.
Dr. Hinds is a rarity in Bim. Nobody turns up with a twig to fight a person with a big stick unless you are suicidal! We have issues and matters that must be addressed now.
Pseudo intellectualizing and “ it will be alright in the morning” have no place in a society that needs a radical reform of its governance and its state apparatus, that should be at all times be administered in the interest of all its citizens and not a privileged few,
If our PM maintains that all big works have to come through her- this is a big work. Nothing is bigger than the welfare of our children. Her Stuartian stance on this issue is very interesting
and borders on abdication of prime ministerial responsibility.
This does not go back to the nonsense about a lost decade because we have now been told that one of the major architects of that lost decade is a prize collection in the PM’s eyes
and administration.
This is about the abuse of our children known to both administrations but has been allowed to grow into a national and perhaps international stain on our country.
We are discarding and dissing our elderly and we are ignoring the welfare of our youth. It is the certain sign of a society heading to a place that cannot be rescued by shooting the messengers and ignoring the messages.
Thank you Dr. Hinds for not allowing yourself to be shut up by those on the rock , who only breathe the foul air of the corrupt and decadent BLPDLP and those who seek to denigrate and marginalize others who love their country as much as anybody else regardless of where they are. Home will always be where the heart is.
Thank you.
William you live to generalize. You should read comments from 2008 and early years of BU, what sone had to say about this blog. People make comments in a context, we should be able to agree and disagree on sone things. We are not clones.
I support this message.
THIS ONE IS GOING TO BE REAL FUN TODAY.
THE BU KNOW IT ALLS WILL HAVE A BALL ON THIS ONE
THIS WOMAN HAS JUST FACED, AND SOUGHT TO STAND UP TO THE RUBBISH THAT GOES ON AT THE TOP LEVELS IN BIM.
YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO HAVE A BRAIN THAT FUNCTIONS
YOU ARE NOT SUPOSED TO KNOW………..OR TO KNOW BETTER………OR MORE THAN THE REST OF THE PACK, OR THE LEADERS OR THE PACK, BECAUSE YOU HAVE STUDIED HARD, OR THOUGHT MUCH ABOUT THE ISSUES AND CAN THEREFORE OFFER REAL PRACTICAL AND VIABLE SOLUTIONS
SOMEONE WILL SOON TELL YOU THAT YOU THINK THAT YOU KNOW MORE THAN EVERYONE ELSE—-WHEN YOU ACTUALLY IN FACT DO.
YOU ARE NOT SUPOSED TO KNOW. MORE THAN THE LEADERSHIP, BECAUSE LEADERS DO NOT KNOW THAT THE BEST LEADERS ARE VERY GOOD FOLLOWERS. THE BEST LEADERS QUICKLY REALIZE AND UNDERSTAND WHEN THEY HEAR A GOOD IDEA, AND ARE ABLE TO PERCIEVE WHEN SOMETHING NEW MIGHT ACTUALLY BE TRUE OR BEST..
THIS WOMAN HAS JUST FACED THE FACT THAT WHAT SHE WAS TAUGHT IN HER HOME, OR AT SCHOOL OR EVEN SUNDAY SCHOOL, THAT YOU OUGHT TO BE THE BEST AT WHAT YOU DO AND STRIVE THEREFOR….IS NOT REALLY CONSIDERED BY MORONS TO BE THE TRUTH OR ALLOWED OR REAL OR WHATEVER.
WE SEE THIS EXHIBITED AND EXEMPLIFIED ON BU DAILY, AND PERENNIALLY. UH LIE?.
MS HINDS I KNOW. I HAVE BEEN THERE. I STOOD UP TOO. AND WE GOT THE NHS THAT WE HAVE SINCE 1985, WHICH WAS AN IMPROVEMENT ON WHAT WE HAD BEFORE.
SO KEEP STANDING UP. YOU MIGHT LIKE ME ABLE TO ACTUALLY EFFECT SOME CHANGE JUST AS I WAS ABLE TO DO
GOD MIGHT REMOVE OBSTACLES OUT OF YOUR WAY, JUST AS HE DID IN MY CASE IN 85, BUT I WONT HOLD YOUR BREATH, THE IGNORANT WOMEN THAT YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH TODAY ARE MORE FORMIDABLE ANTIOCHUS EPIMANES TYPES,
I GONE
LET THE FUN BEGIN
,
WILLIAM I AGREE WITH YOU ON THIS ONE SIR
IN BIM IF YOU DO NOT BOW YOU HAVE TO GO
IT HAPPENS HERE ON BU TOO. IT IS INDEED THE BAJAN WAY
INSTEAD OF ASKING WHY DO YOU SAY THAT? WHY DO YOU THINK THAT WAY? YOU ARE REMOVED OR DISPLACED.
Two words..wicked minded and corrupt…
.the SNSindrome…..
It is now absolutely clear why this minister would have fired her from his Board.
This is a woman who demonstrated professional standards and who is unwilling to sell her soul or compromise her principles.
Another Caswell.
There is just NO WAY for her to work with this joke of a ‘minister’ who has left a trail of CHAOS wherever he has been IMPOSED on the people of Barbados by his supreme leader.
“This is a woman who demonstrated professional standards and who is unwilling to sell her soul or compromise her principles.”
you effectively answered your own question….and that is why this must be posted EVERYWHERE..
The Institution was established in the Victorian era and to all intents and purposes continued to operate in that time frame down to the charge of “wandering”. At last the Gov’t appointed an individual who was prepared to do more than rubber stamp the operations of the Centre and the Gov’t did what it does to individuals that embarrass any of its members. I said it once before and I’ll say it again, the Minister should be relieved of his duties but in a 30 love environment that is unlikely and even if he was he may be replaced by someone who is just as incompetent.
@Sargeant
A key observation is the Board is advisory in nature, it has been for all the years. We have to begin to focus on how to bring about systemic change to this institution and wherever there is a need. For those who are not aware Marsha Hinds has always been one willing to push against the establishment, GIS was a trigger which has catapulted her to national interest, however, those attending credit union AGMs for example will be familiar with her fierce advocacy.
“The Institution was established in the Victorian era and to all intents and purposes continued to operate in that time frame down to the charge of “wandering”.”
and now operated by the DESCENDANTS OF SLAVES….black face frauds who believe they are anything but..
@ David
You are the one who always lament poor governance. This has nothing to do with 2008 or 2022. This is perhaps the most serious public condemnation of any government administered facility since or even before independence/ republic.
I have said nothing here in relation to the failing nature of our decadent and corrupt state apparatus that you have not implied or said.
You seriously think being mischievous this early in the morning/week is funny?
What really is your purpose Brother?
As @ Pacha , rather mildly , reminded you a few days ago, you should let us know when you’re serious or mekking sport.
Have a funny day. That seems to be your goal.
Peace and love Bro’
@William
You and others who have a view to share for public consumption do so. Stop the nitpicking and engaging in short pants behaviour.
Peace
I couldn’t read the post in one sitting…
What really stopped me in my tracks was this
“… the ones who do complete Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) certification are largely self taught. In contravention of the rights of children deprived of their liberty, children who complete CXC while resident at the GIS have that printed on their certificates. In a small society like Barbados that is a branding that is hard to overcome in the job market.”
Horrible. Imagine trying to teach yourself a topic, getting an understanding of it and obtaining a pass in that subject. Then some idiot will add to your already heavy loaf by stamping the certificate with the most negative part of your story.
Loaf?? Load.
Kick you down. Keep you down
William….some of us have the tools to make them famous worldwide, in every corner of the globe, they will not escape, hope they can appreciate and recognize that the SPIRAL IS ALL DOWNWARD FOR TRAITORS…
I do not remember the name of my school being printed on my certificate, but that was 300 years ago.
Theo…it’s pure evil and vindictiveness…not even killers who serve decades in prison and master degrees have it printed on their matriculation documents in progressive societies….many of whom AFTER incarceration teach in universities as LEARNED PROFESSORS, giving back as they deserve the opportunity to….
that’s why i always call the lowlifes in Barbados by their names….the trash that got an opportunity to mismanage a small island, terrorize and rob the people of their human rights…..steal everything and disenfranchise them……
@ WURA @ TheOGazerts
Black on Black crime ! Let’s call it what it really is. The enemy within (Garvey)
. Just wait on the apologists and their pathetic attempts to defend this monstrosity against our children.
Peace
That is exactly what it is, black on black crimes….THE REAL CRIMINALS in taxpayer funded entities….criminalizing children and the majority population to cover their own crimes, using the people as props to make themselves look good…strengthening OUTDATED colonial laws to carry out their disgusting wickedness….while emptying the treasury, VAT and pension fund..
they all need quality PRISON TIME…
@David
What does an “Advisory Board” do? Is it supposed to protect the Administration of the Centre or its political masters.As a young boy I grew up reading that we had a literacy rate of 98% and what was unsaid was that we were superior to the other islands and we would be looking down our noses if this situation happened in those places but what does 98% literacy mean?
The issue of the Institution’s name on the Certificates is society’s reminder “Once a Dodd’s boy always a “Dodd’s boy”
@Sargeant
Marsha explained the extent of the role of GIS advisory Board. It makes recommendations to the Primcipal/Minister with the hope they are implemented. The blogmaster if he is elected to sit on any Board and recommendations are not implemented to reasonable satisfaction there is a simple decision to be taken. This is part of the problem. You get the drift?
William SkinnerMay 16, 2022 7:24 AM
Her Stuartian stance on this issue is very interesting
and borders on abdication ofprime ministerial responsibility.
Xxx
Well.said
Her audacity to stay in.lockdown mode on a humanitarian issue speaks well of a character easily dismissal of those hard issues attributed to black lives
Can’t forget her stance on issues surrounding humanitarian issues referencing black lives matter
Glad that eyes are opening up to where this issue should be finally grounded
Her stance on world govts ignoring the plight of small island nations should also be a reflection of how she interject her self into humanitarian causes and concerns at home
RE William you live to generalize.
GREAT MINDS START WITH THE GENERAL BEFORE TRANSENDING TO THE SPECIFIC
INFERIOR MINDS ARE UNABLY TO PERCIEVE THIS
I DONT ALWAYS AGREE WITH WILLIAM, NOR HE WITH ME, BUT I UNDERSTAND HIM, AND HE IS NO FOOL.
I APPRECIATE THAT HE IS WILLING TO MAKE A VALUABLE CONTRIBUTION TO THE RUM SHOP DESPITE BEING UNECESSARILY HARANGED AND CURSED FOR BEING SIMPLY OFTEN BEING RIGHT…BUT THIS IS THE BAJAN AND THE BU WAY
I took an affront to the fact that just because this woman saw a young girl in the nude in an Insolation Room, that this is somehow of indicative of abuse. Perhaps, she was placed there from harming herself an others?
So with that being said, are we Privy to the reason or reasons as to why this young lady was placed in this Insolation Room in the first place?
“When girls are charged with wandering in Barbados, they are forced to have vaginal examinations as a part of the police investigation process. They are given the morning after pill as well. Even if attorneys at law representing the children or parents do not give consent, these measures are taken.”
Can you imagine the horror of trying to flee an abusive situation and the first thing that happen is someone is giving you a vaginal exam?
Can a young girl be charged with wandering, two or more times?
Now I worked for a number of years in a similar setting, with adults, Adolescents and children, and I can say to you all void of equivocation that the standard procedure was to straitjacked young children whom were potentially harming themselves, and others, and put them in an Insolation Room.
So are we sure this weren’t the standard procedure at the time this woman observed what she believed to be the abused of this nude young lady she saw in the Insolation Room?
get it in your empty head, no one in their right mind will answer you, seeing as i posted on here about seeing the video of a disabled girl being raped on a plantation and you wanted me to post the video of that crime to BU for your sick pleasure…
TheOGazerts
Your revelation comes as a surprised to me, because for as long as I have been around the Police, I have never heard of such a thing, but perhaps you are talking about the Barbados of today, because this certainly weren’t the standard procedure back in the day?
@David, the report by Dr Hinds is obviously very damning and the crux of the damnation is the almost total lack of structures that were fit for the intended purposes going back years.
Clearly Dodds or now GIS was seen as non-important and there was no intention nor focus to improve the lot of the hundreds of disadvantaged youth who passed through its doors.
That is the distasteful issue I take from her post: the abject apathy.
And as @Bush Tea noted the fact that she was dismissed from the Board for simply seeking basic standards and rights for the wards at GIS – for being a whistleblower- should itself add more venom to this ruckus … it is indeed a cover-up to be ripped open.
But heh WE are all to blame … I say WE because a Board is at least seven people or whatever and thus we can imagine 100s of Bajans, including several ministries, PSs and senior civil servants who condoned the disgusting conditions and archaic practices in contravention of international regs and mandates to which Bim was a signatory.
What is doubly sad, however, is the realization that a leader at that institution with a professional and humane approach could have made such a tremendous difference … there are many instances in our society where good people did make a difference despite the same archaic colonial systems and moribund Board- Minister structures.
@Dee Word
We live during times where the focus is on ‘sexy issues’. Residents of GIS come from lower socioeconomic class AND workers are low paid as well as institution under resourced.
The ‘creative writing’ team is beginning to assemble.
I make no revelations.
Simply a cut and paste from the original post.
I’ve worked for decades in an institutional setting similar to that of Government Industrial School, and I can say to you all that it is quite commonplace for staff to be accused of emotional, psychological, sexual, physical, and financial abuse and neglect, but it is up to the institutional to put mechanisms in place to deter such behaviour.
There is a reason why the opposite gender ( male doctors) here in the States cannot be in the same room exclusively with a child during an examination ….listen! the statistics don’t lie …. men are primarily the sexual abusers….. and men ought not find themselves in compromising position with children if they know what’s best for them….
It gives me great pleasure to relate this story as we are on the topic of the Government Industrial Shool, however; I was not then a teenager, when a CID Detective whom I considered a father figure at the time, took me on a ride with him to returned this preteen whom had run away from the Institution back in the 70s, and my initial entry into the Institution was one of anticipation, because I wanted for some unknown reason to see how the kids not much older than myself were being housed.
And what I did observed at that time, however, was this kid sitting alone in the yard of this Institution, but unfortunately, the memory of that experienced continues to fade with time.
@ David who wrote, ” Residents of GIS come from lower socioeconomic class ”
That is a big part of the problem. In old Bajan parlance ” dem ent come from nuh way “.
The Prime Minister can take control and show how awesome she is.#wegotthis
Slaves were Prisoners
Prisoners are Slaves
The next soundbite is Modern Day Child Slavery
The next Government / Court / legal scam is tying up Children in the system removing parental rights
shortchanging children with poor service while funneling large amounts of tax funds
Damage is inflicted deep in the Children which is buried and carried into adulthood
Dysfunctional systems make dysfunctional people
Functional and positive systems make functional and positive people
Will The Circle Be Unbroken?
Hants
It is also important to note that the members of the lower socioeconomic classes, commits the most crime, so therefore, the prognostication isn’t an inexactitude.
555dubstreet
Sir, please wake up and smell the coffee because no system of human endeavor, isn’t void or devoid of its faults and failings.
@ Dompey, Why is there a need for an isolation room in the first place? Is it a prison. Did any of these young girls commit a crime?
I heard on a radio program that new intakes are placed in that so call isolation room for the first 3 days of their stay and are in only their underwear, with a sponge mattress to sleep on.
If I remember correctly when Marsha came to the media about the abuse, and the isolation of the first girl, the sponge mattress was no longer there.
Apart from the intake, that isolation room is used for punishment. I was told that no one wants to go there. You cannot hear or see anything. There is one very high window and it is impossible to reach. The girls are taken kicking and screaming to that room. They fight back. It is not meant for the human psyche. Can you understand the emotional and psychological damage that this can do to a person? Going there would break anyone.
If this is not a form of abuse, I do not know what is?
That place needs a box of matches and some gasoline. It is a torture chamber.
@Heather
Some of the residents at GIS have been been before the court for committing crimes?
@ Dompey when it was believed that the young girls would harm themselves, they were sent to the Psychiatric hospital. They were not placed in isolation. This should nullify the argument that isolation was to prevent self harm.
That institution does not operate under any normal standard operating procedure of the 21st Century.
The longer this story stays in the public domain
The worst the situation becomes
At present a girl is running loose
That alone is an indictment of what is taking place at the institution
Along with Mottley necessary intervention
A question and answer of the board and past and present staff should be televised across local as well.as radio platforms
It serves no purpose for govt to be having any other investigations behind closed doors
The Minister in charge had two bites for resolution and he has failed
Time for him to go
@ David what crimes did the 7-1 girls commit?
@Heather
As has been made public intake at the GIS accepts those who have committed crimes as well as coming unsupportive homes/parents.
Heather
But my point is this: being placed in isolation is not an uncommon practice for children who exhibit behavioral issues, so tell me in what way does putting this kid in isolation constitutes abuse?
Heather
And medication and behavioral therapy does not immediately, addressed the behavioral issues a child maybe is experiencing, so one would assumed that being placed in isolation would have prevented this kid from harming herself and others because she is now under constant supervision.
Angela Cox
I am no way shape or form defending the policies of this government regarding the treatment of the female inmates at this governmental prison facility, but I have to disagree with you regarding the point you have made with respect to why the young lady run away because inmates have been running away from this Institution for more than five decades now, and it had little to do with the way in which they were being treated by staff, and more to do with the wanted of their freedom.
“A third frustration I quickly ran into was how the outdated and archaic frameworks for juvenile justice in Barbados were continuing to have negative impacts on children in the juvenile justice system. ”
Heather…why waste your breath…although a PROFESSIONAL…a REAL EXPERT…who was RIGHT THERE….gave a statement that is now SHARED EVERYWHERE…the BU clowns are still trying to shift the blame to the girls, the parents…..everyone else EXCEPT THE CORRUPT DANGEROUS MINISTERS and others involved…their abusers at home or wherever else they encountered it……..
.none of which is the issue here…you have a BUNCH OF PERVERTS and PIMPS running these institutions because they believe they have god like powers…and this fits right into the BU narrative..
“Girls who were facing family instability, which often resulted from them being raped or molested were being charged for wandering as they tried to escape abuse. Girls who were in other state facilities and facing abuses who tried to escape these environments were charged with wandering. Girls who had started normal teenaged exploration of sex with boys in similar age category to them were charged with wandering. In many cases, these children only came into contact with the juvenile justice system because their parents reached out to the state apparatus to try to seek help and support for their children and not because they wanted them incarcerated. The parents were then overruled when their children were made wards of the court and although their parental rights were never officially revoked, they lost the ability to make medical decisions for their children, educational decisions or further decisions about legal outcomes. When girls are charged with wandering in Barbados, they are forced to have vaginal examinations as a part of the police investigation process. They are given the morning after pill as well. Even if attorneys at law representing the children or parents do not give consent, these measures are taken.
@Dompey since you classify wandering as a behavioral issue that is in need for isolation, What about the behavioral issues of the grown hard back men who caused these girls to be wanderers. How come they are not charged, locked up and isolated? How come it is that the victims are prosecuted, persecuted, tormented and abused?
The real problem is never addressed. To think that the Magistrate courts only address a consequence of the problem is shameful!
DID I NOT TELL YOU THIS ONE IS GOING TO BE FULL OF MIRTH BASED ON EMOTIONS AND LACK OF OTHER INFORMATION IN THE REPORT BY MS HINDS
THIS RANT IS QUITE HIARIOUS.
CAN WE HAVE SOME SUGGESTIONS OF WHAT SHOULD BE DONE …HOW AND WHY AND WHERE AND WHEN
CAN WE HAVE VIABLE SUGGESTIONS FOR A CHANGE BESIDES THE USUAL BU RUM SHOP RANTS.
I WAS NOT DEEMED FIT TO SERVE IN MY YOUTH EXCEPT AS AN ACTOR……..I WAS ALWAYS ACTING THIS AND ACTING THAT SO I WONT BE TRYING TO HELP IN MY OLD AGE.
THESE DAYS I WILL JUST ROCK………..AND ………..MOCK………TICK TOCK……HICKORY DOCK
Heather
I have worked in a Mental Health Unit here for more than five years, and at that time the general procedure for kids whom exhibited severe Behavioural and emotional issues then, were to straitjacked them, and placed them in an Isolation Room, until those Behavioural or Emotional issues were addressed by the Psychiatrist or the Behavioural Specialist.
Take note that ALL OF THIS was BEFORE lying black politicians were allowed in the parliament….but this is not being addressed…the fact that these laws in and of themselves are NOW ILLEGAL…the fact that they form part of the SLAVE CODES of Barbados, is not addressed…that school was not created for white or other minority children…it resides under Slavery still…
“The Government Industrial School was opened in 1883, forty-nine years after the abolition of slavery in the British Caribbean. The major purpose of the school was to house children who did not have parents or whose parents did not have the means to provide for their children. The Industrial Schools across the Caribbean extracted free labour from children in exchange for shelter and clothing. Flogging was allowed in the Schools and researcher, Dr. Shani Roper reported in a recent online forum on the topic of “Children in State Care” that records show that Barbados used the most flogging. The early 1900s saw the passage of two pieces of legislation – the Reformatory and Industrial Schools (1926) and the Juvenile Offenders Act (1936). These two pieces of legislation are still what govern the fate of children inside the juvenile justice system in 2022 Barbados.”
DompeyMay 16, 2022 1:34 PM
Angela Cox
I am no way shape or form defending the policies of this government regarding the treatment of the female inmates at this governmental prison facility, but I have to disagree with you regarding the point you have made with respect to why the young lady run away because inmates have been running away from this Institution for more than five decades now, and it had little to do with the way in which they were being treated by staff, and more to do with the wanted of their freedom
Xxxxxc
Where in my comment I stated why the girl was on the loose
It seems to be a BU disease which spreads one which there is no cure
@ WURA, perverts, pimps, psychopaths, demons, persons with their minds already mess up and the torture squad. Those girls fight for survival there. They are pitted against each other so that they will fight each other and then isolated as punishment. The state calls this caring and rehabilitation but it is actually legalized torture with the state turning children into monsters at the expense of the taxpayers.
This is why an alternative is needed. We definitely need to go back to the drawing board, starting with the scrapping of the law for wandering.
Heather…all the information is RIGHT THERE and these are still posting a bunch of DUMB SHIT…makes us wonder what is the real agenda..
“perverts, pimps, psychopaths, demons, persons with their minds already mess up and the torture squad. Those girls fight for survival there. ”
…..scrap the slave code laws and SHUT DOWN THAT HELLHOLE….or if they refuse…keep exposing them EVERYWHERE…something has to give….we are cursed with some very NASTY NEGROS…
There is a tendency among the female commentators here to attributed the anti-social behaviour exhibited by the female inmates at this Institution to male sexual abuse, but little or no emphasis is being placed on the fact that the female inmates might will have been suffering with antisocial personality disorder, which is a common phenomenon among members of the population, and which accounts for the most of the rebellion, aggressivity and impulsivity of these inmates.
HEATHER
WHEN I WAS AN ACTOR FOR THE POLICE DEPT THIS WAS THE POSITION SOUNDED BY THOSE IN CHARGE WHEN A GIRL WENT MISSING………….OR WANDERING.AS IT IS CALLED
IT WAS AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE A NUISANCE TO THE LOCAL CONSTABULARY, AS IT MEANT EXTRA WORK FOR THEM
IF THE LASS WAS OVER A CERTAIN AGE, IT WAS TAKEN MUCH MORE SERIOUSLY, SINCE A WOMAN OVER 20 OR MORE WAS CONSIDERED CAPABLE OF DEALING WITH CERTAIN SITUATIONS SENSIBLY. AND WAS VERY UNLIKELY NOT TO BE “WANSERING”
IF THE LASS WAS A TEEN. IT WAS THOUGHT THAT SHE HAD BEEN OVERCOME BY THE BLISS OF ENJOYING THE FORBIDEN FRUIT (OR SHOULD THAT BE FOOPS?) AND WAS QUITE INTENT AND ENGAGING THUS FOR A WHILE, UNTIL AFTER SHE HAD GOT HER FILL, SHE WOULD RETURN QUITE UNHARMED.
THIS WAS USUALLY THE CASE………AND THUS SEEMED TO BE THE CASE.
IN SOME CASES, THE MOTHERS THEN COMPLAINED FOR THE GIRLS PERIODIC ABSENCES, AND THEY WERE BROUGHT BEFORE SOME AUTHORITY AND THENCE TO DODDS.
I AM HERE OFFERING INFORMATION ON WHAT OCCURS ……..NOT AN OPINION ON WHAT SHOULD OR SHOULD BE DONE.
AFTER ALL I WAS NEVER MUCH MORE THAN AN ACTOR…………. SO HOW CAN I POSSIBLY KNOW. .LOL.
I MUST CONFESS THAT MY SARCASM KNOWS NO BOUNDS AND THAT I DONT COME HERE TO EITHER WIN FRIENDS OR INFLENCE PEOPLE.
I posted this same article to a few forums and without any long stupid posts…sensible people of ALL HUES UNDERSTOOD RIGHT AWAY WHAT MUST BE DONE….but not the BU pretenders…
I remembered sadly, when my younger sister got very rebellious and started to behaviour disrepectful towards my mother, because she wanted her own, and this brought a level of disharmony in the household, but in retrospected, I wished my mother would have
asked my younger sister to run away because it would have brought back the much needed equanimity in the household.
Now the point I am trying to stress is that female rebellious does not emanate or it is always indicative of male sexual abuse exclusively.
That’s why i did not post the whole link certain places, only the article…..because i knew some people would be offended by the backward comments related to children. coming from the usual idiots…and were it other minority groups’ children involved…these presumptuous ignoramuses would NEVER DARE make such asinine posts…they would be falling over their kiss ass selves in sympathy…and would offer solutions without being asked……no one would be more horrified than them…..and would go so far as to call for the jailing of the animals torturing children…..but since it’s Black children, Black like themselves…..these treacherous lowlifes could care less…and believe they have some given right to further torment and terrorize these children’s characters…
Heather……years ago, when Naked Departure just came out, i remember there was this white racist female from Texas who opened her legs for someone’s camera…i knew nothing about the situation, but there was this big brouhaha on BU because Sheri Veronica posted the photo…..turned out the damn ho, because that is all she was, is or was married to one of those PRETEND ELITES…old crooks…..fake pedigree that is connected to the parliament rats….there was this big condemnation on BU ….how dare they do that to her…they had a fit because a white woman got caught on camera with her legs wide open……i even got blamed and had no clue what the hell was going on….
but now Black children who have experienced torture for decades at the hands of animals armed with slave codes from the 1800s/early 1900s…these same HYPOCRITES are the first to call those children criminals….
i even got blamed and had no clue what the hell was going on….
had to go and investigate to find out what was really going on…..then i got the whole story and it was not pretty…….that is when i knew something was VERY WRONG on BU…..that happened YEARS ago, am sure most forgot about it, but it’s in the archives.
..why i got blamed? because i used to go on Naked Departure and never hid it because am A FREE BLACK WOMAN..
The Birds and the Bees sex education for BU. Girls by design of nature are charged with sexual energy which is not a crime nor is it a mental health issue, and that is why birth control contraception is provided to unwanted prevent pregnancies.
Aphasia* remedied :
“.. to prevent unwanted pregnancies…”
The crux of the matter is that regardless of the reason why the girls were sent to Barrows, there is no justification for the inhumane treatment
that occurs there.
The Minister refused to acknowledge that a man who works there is before the court for inappropriately touching young girls. And this was before the second time that the Minister said nothing to see here. I don’t know if it is the same person who is known to disappear for hours on end with minors.
@Hearther all here agree. The point about the intake is to reinforce that GIS is not fit for purpose because of it.
@ David Indeed!
Conspiracy, conspiracy, as usual.
The Government Industrial School is in best condition. And what is the opposition doing on BU? Trying to pull down honourable members of the best cabinet ever.
Sad. Very sad. In the meantime, I stick to official government information.
Once again, I would like to commend Dr.Marsha Hinds. This woman has a cast iron will and has done a wonderful job in exposing the demonic practices at the GIS.
We need the international media to cover this story in full.
.
Heather
There obviously needs to be some fundamental changes at the Correctional Institutuion, as far as allegations of inappropriate conduct is concerned, because once an allegation of abuse or inappropriate conduct is leveled at a staff, he or she should be taken off out duty with pay, until the conclusion of the investigation, and if criminal or disciplinary action is warranted after the conclusion of the investigation so be it. However, for a Minister to investigate an Institution which he oversights, amount to a conflict of interest as far as I am concerned.
Heather
What government ought to be doing is to creation an independent agency that is charged with the responsibility of investigation allegations leveled at staff by inmates, and that investigatory body, should present its findings to the Minister’s office for the appropriate actions to be had.
Calling that place a “school” is a misnomer. It is in reality a prison.
“We need the international media to cover this story in full.”
definitely…that is the consensus of others…
@ Dompey, the Minister lied on 2 previous occasions, when he stated that there was nothing to report. He averted telling a lie when asked about his knowledge of someone inappropriately touching a
minor. He said the said he could not comment. There needs to be an investigation by credible regional and international bodies not anyone that the Minister names. And yes he of himself needs not only to be fired but charged with bring false information to the taxpayers and people of Barbados. He should not be holding any office in Barbados. He is a disgrace. The PM will
Not be able to sweep this one under the carpet.
With the bad publicity ntye GIS has undergone it thus ask for knowing after the investigation
What next ?
BTW has the whereabouts of the missing girl been found out ?
Heather
Let us be serious now, do you honestly believe that such an incident warrants an international investigation? Listen! I work for one of the Department of the State here, which is responsible for the care of Children Special Needs, and within this Department there is an Investigation Unit, which investigate all incidents of abuse and neglect, and does so impartially. However, after this Investigation Unit which is comprised of retired Cops, completed its investigation, the findings of that investigation is sent to Human Resources to determine the consequences to be had based on Policy and Procedures.
Also Heather, there is an annual training which each employee must take called Abuse and Neglect, in order to continue their employment, and this training teaches the employee about the physical, psychological, emotional, verbal and sexual abuse of the residents, as well as neglect, and the consequences to be had if one has been proven to commit any or all of the above.
Anxiously awaiting cuhdear’s contribution. Will watch her bowl an over of ‘wides’ and at the same time exclaim “How’s that”
Talk about ad bowling 😃
And again Heather, anyone who works with children in my State, are by State Statute a Mandated Reporter, meaning that if they observe or witness any incidents of abuse or neglect, that their duty is to report it immediately, or face the consequences for not doing so.
Well, here we go again! Some people just can’t help it.
Ignoring…
What was the topic again?
@ Dompey
“I have worked in a Mental Health Unit here for more than five years”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Boss, if you are confined to an institution and they let you sweep the yard, please note that this does NOT constitute ‘working at a mental institution’.
@ Dompey I presumed that you worked in an International institution. How can you compare that with Barbados? Why should there not be a regional and Internal investigation? We need to know if the Minister lied about the content of those 2 reports? The facts must be put on the table for John Public.
https://youtu.be/OpaBTjyKbhE. The Minister seems to have gotten first chance to attempt to vindicate himself with these 2 women. None of them attended Barrows. Both went to Sumervale which was burned to the ground by the wards. Yet they are painting a rosy picture about that institution.
@ David did BU carry the story from a ward of PC Anderson Bowen taking her out of GIS at night?
The two woman can only speak for themselves
They cannot speak for others
The whole episode of PR messages now seen by these two woman is an exercise fitting to be called drowning man grabbing at straws
Govt is over it’s head now a display of them against us is being thrown into an already burning issue which needs to be cooled down instead of being gas lighted up
Heather
Know I do not work for an international organization…. I however, work for a State operated and financied organization, which caters to the needs of children with Special Needs, and Mental Disorders.
But my point is there is an investigatory component within that organization which investigates all allegations of abuse and neglect of the residents, and does so with the greatest impartiality and confidentiality.
Heather, so my point is this: why do we have to go outside the confines of our island to address problems of abuse and neglect?
However, I do agree that it amounts to a conflict of interest, when a Minister investigates a claim of abuse and neglect in an institution that he oversights.
And moreover, the Minister’s actions is analogous to sending the Fox to guard the Hen house.
Heather, I read an article directly after Anderson Bowen aka Invader One death, where this young girl accuse Anderson Bowen and another Police officer of impregnating her on several occasions, and then forcing her to have an abortion.
Now if my memory serves me correctly, the young girl also stated that she was having some problems at home and was probably running away, so Anderson Bowen and this other Officer dropped her off at this woman’s house whom this young girl accused of sexually assaulting her as well … however, young girl also claimed that Anderson Bowen and this other Officer would pick her up regularly at night from this woman’s house and take her to Dicky Classes.
It has been alleged some girls vaginal holes are examined, samples from swabs could be used to make dna databases of alleged rapists in the area
3030 Meets The Doc (Pt. 1)
Unfortunately, our penal system is far too lax. We need Asian toughness, integrity and honesty like in Singapore, not whiny fraternisation which is so typical for the Caribbean DNA.
It would be best to assign the youths in question to work building roads and hotels. There they can do wonderful things for the common good under the tutelage of Bizzy and his foster son Mark Maloney.
“We need Asian toughness”
Holes say
Barbados style?
Indian style?
Now lets fuck English style
Satchidananda
“Heather
Know I do not work for an international organization…. I however, work for a State operated and financied organization, which caters to the needs of children with Special Needs, and Mental Disorders.”
And the city actually let you loose in there..
Tron, you hold too myopic a view of what will addressed the antisocial and destructive behaviour of our young people today Sir. And if you noticed, penalty does not deter a man when his conscience has been aroused, and if it did, the jail house would have been empty Skippa.
Tron, state sanctioned penalty has proven to be no real deterrent for deviant and criminalistic behaviour, so it is time to go back to the drawing board.
Is it not quite telling that ALL THE FACTS were EFFICIENTLY PRESENTED by Dr. Hinds, her statement outlining those FACTS cannot be better, seeing as she was present at the institution and is the best eyewitnesss to these decades old crimes, the employees who previously tried to expose these vicious animals were FIRED, yet most just IGNORED everything presented in Dr. Hinds’ statement and posted the shite roiling around in their heads…like if nothing she said mattered, it’s all unimportant to them, as though these children have NO RIGHTS..
and they actually expect to be taken seriously..
waru
RE And the city actually let you loose in there..
DOMPEY IS ACTUALLY MAKING A MORE USEFUL CONTRIBUTION TO THIS THREAD THAN YOU HAVE OR CAN EVER DO
WHY HAS DAVID let you loose in here?
..
I think institutionalization coupled with effective counseling is the best remedy for some of these young people, whom I know will eventually developed the psycho and sociopathic proclivities, which will prove quite challenging for society moving forward.
am sure the intent is to expose geriatric perverts, frauds and fake scholars/ christians like you…
@DompeyMay 17, 2022 8:21 AM
Our prison is a hotel with good food and lots of free time. That is not a deterrent. We need penal labour and flogging. Like in Singapore, a model city. That will keep the local mob in check when they have to serve for Mark Maloney on the quarry or plantation for 20 years.
To learn from Asia is to learn to win!
The responses to this post went awry almost from the very beginning when the usual remarks were dropped from the usual place.
It is then that the topic became “Overseas Bajans vs Stay at Home Bajans, Apologists Say, “These Things Happen Everywhere” and Overseas Bajans Love Barbados Too.
All misrepresentations taken out of context that have been cleared up over and over again AD NAUSEUM.
It has become an unhealthy obsession for some, others have moved on.
But by all means, let us lead every discussion with a rehash of old personal battles, while claiming to be laser focused on our children!
I gone AGAIN! I have no stomach for this crap and opinions can surely be posted elsewhere.
Former wards of the Girls Industrial School share their experiences – .
https://www.cbc.bb/cbctest/news/local-news/former-wards-of-the-girls-industrial-school-share-their-experiences/
DavidMay 17, 2022 12:28 PM
Former wards of the Girls Industrial School share their experiences
Xcccccc
What purpose does it serves to share their story
Situations differ
This sharing does nothing to help.the ongoing problem
Mostly likely their story ignites division cast on people’s emotions and sensitivities
At this point the PM mouth needs to be opened
It serves the same purpose or more of you sharing yours.
DavidMay 17, 2022 1:34 PM
It serves the same purpose or more of you sharing yours
Xxxx
Really how is that so?
Tron
I am not quite sure how old you are, but if you are around and about my age, then you ought to have remembered the during the late 60s and early 70s, inmates at Glendiary Prison worked the prison detailed, throughout the many communities round and about Glendiary.
Nevertheless, you would have distinctly remembered that they pushed a card blue in colour and similar to that of a Donkey Cart.
And the efforts of prison authority back then, still did not abated the perpetual escalation of violent crime that was to come in the 1980s.
@David yours@12.28 pm
I saw the segment on State TV and would describe it as “damage control”
@Sargeant
Yours seems to be the consensus opinion.
There is no controlling this damage.
@ Dompey May 17, 2022 3:20 PM
The labour sentence was simply not harsh enough. You need drastic methods to tame our local men. I’m talking about working in the quarry 6 days a week for 12 hours and building roads in the hot sun.
It worked in Singapore, didn’t it? We should never have taken the death penalty and flogging out of the programme of punitive sanctions. People need harsh punishments to serve the common good.