The high incidence of domestic violence in Barbados is putting a strain on the Centre for Battered Women.
President of the Business and Professional Women’s Club (BPWC), Nalita Gajadhar, said her organisation was committed to securing the welfare of the many women and children who seek the services of that institution.
She added that Barbadians seemed unaware of the extent f the problem of domestic violence, and many children were suffering as a result.
Gajadhar told the MIDWEEK NATION that despite Government’s financial support to the centre, the Business and Professional Women’s Club was saddled with a “tremendous responsibility” of providing security and counselling support for children who accompanied their mothers to the shelter, as well as assistance for these families when they left.
The Shelter for Battered Women was set up by the Business and Professional Women’s Club in 1999, as a result of the inundation of calls to the Crisis Centre also set up the BPWC.
The club is embarking on a major fund-raising event, a unique tea festival at the Barbados Museum on November 20, at which a foreign-born woman who has made an outstanding contribution to women’s development in Barbados will be honoured.
There are five nominees for the Gertrude Lady Carter Award, which will be presented on that occasion.
The award is named after the wife of a former Governor of Barbados who started the Women’s Self-Help and did extensive community work to improve the lot of women. (GC)
