There is a worrying increase in domestic violence cases.

According to data from the Barbados Police Service, Barbados recorded a 21 per cent increase in reported domestic violence cases in 2023, rising from 471 in 2022 to 572 (an average of 47 reports a month). However, according to advocates, countless victims remain muzzled by fear, shame and stigma, especially on social media.

Melissa Savoury-Gittens, president of the National Organisation of Women (NOW), and Marlene Hewitt, president of the Business and Professional Women’s Club of (BPW) Barbados, say the country’s statistics tell only a fraction of the story.

“There’s still some women who are afraid to report,” Savoury-Gittens said. “Why are they afraid? The backlash. Especially with social media now, women are judged and executed before the case even begins.”

With the 16 Days Of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence started on Tuesday, she pointed to a culture where survivors are blamed instead of believed.

“People ask, ‘Why was she there?’ or say, ‘She put herself in that situation’. So before a woman even gets to court, she’s already been executed by public opinion.”

That fear, she added, keeps too many women from seeking help, even when their lives are at risk.

“We don’t necessarily need more policies or legislation. We need to build confidence, to make women feel they can come forward without being shamed.”

For those who do speak up, “the backlash can be brutal,” the NOW president told the Saturday Sun. She described how victims were often ridiculed online, accused of exaggeration or “seeking attention”.

“People don’t want to have to relive their trauma over and over again. Once a case hits social media, people make jokes, assumptions, comments. It’s public humiliation and that stops others from coming forward.”

The cost of that silence was devastating, she added.

Advocates say too many cases end not because justice is served, but because victims withdraw them, exhausted by scrutiny and disbelief, and sometimes even the time it takes for justice to be served.

For those who do find the courage to speak up, the road to justice is often painful, said Hewitt, who works closely with the BPW Shelter for Abused Women. She pointed out that the system itself can re-traumatise victims. “When we go to make a report, that’s a trauma in itself,” she said. “But I tell women . . . if you’re not happy with how you’re treated, go to the officer in charge. Don’t give up. You can always go above them. “If we’re not comfortable even speaking to law enforcement, policy doesn’t matter. Before any law can work, women have to feel safe enough to report.”

While reported incidents are rising, the advocates stress that the true scale of abuse remains largely invisible. Surveys across the Caribbean have shown that up to 55 per cent of women experience gender-based violence in their lifetime, but only a fraction ever file a police report.

According to estimates presented by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations partners last week, one in three women aged 15 and older in the Americas has experienced physical or sexual violence at some point in her life. Intimate partner violence remains the most common form of abuse: one in four women aged 15-49 has experienced physical or sexual violence from a partner, while one in eight has suffered sexual violence from

someone other than a partner. Young women face early risks, with 21 per cent of those aged 15-19 experiencing partner violence. Older women are not spared: 23 per cent aged 65 and above report such violence. “These figures of women affected in our region are so striking because violence is preventable. Collecting high-quality data on violence against women is the first step toward giving this important issue the visibility and urgency it requires,” said Dr Jarbas Barbosa, director of the Pan American Health Organisation, regional office of WHO for the Americas.

“There is much that we know and much that we can do together to prevent and respond to violence in all its forms. We must act to prevent violence, support survivors and invest in strategies that break the cycles of abuse.”

Both Savoury-Gittens and Hewitt agree that ending gender-based violence requires more than laws and shelters – it requires a shift in community behaviour.

“People used to look out for their neighbours,” Hewitt said. “Now, everyone’s to themselves. You see someone being attacked and instead of helping, people record it.”

Fear of retaliation is part of the problem, she admits, but adds that silence only empowers abusers.

“If you can’t step in, call for help. Don’t just stand there. When bystanders do nothing, they become part of the problem,” she said. Savoury-Gittens said that men, too, must take responsibility for change. “We need to remind them, this could be your daughter, your sister. You can’t just look away.” In September, Barbados took a decisive step toward strengthening its response to domestic violence with the development of a National Domestic Violence Action Plan, aimed at creating a coordinated, multisectoral approach to tackling abuse. The initiative announced by Attorney General Dale Marshall, in partnership with the Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs and Bureau of Gender Affairs, is being developed with technical and financial support from the Inter-American Development Bank and UN Women.

Officials say the goal is not another policy paper, but a workable road map that integrates prevention, protection, data collection and survivor-centred services into a unified national response.

The road map will focus on six priority areas: legislation and policy reform; prevention and education; access to essential services such as counselling, legal aid and shelters; data collection and monitoring; community and institutional coordination, and public awareness and attitude change.

Savoury-Gittens and Hewitt are urging Barbadians to move beyond awareness, to action.

For Hewitt, change can come. “It’s unfair that women must live hyper-alert, always watching, always guarding. We need to change that reality, together,” she said. (NS)