March 7, 2021

President Weekes Reflects On Andrea Bharatt In Women’s Day Message: “I Felt Personal Despair”

By Newsroom

On the eve of International Women’s Day on March 8th, President Paula-Mae Weekes used her voice to address the pressing issue of gender based violence. 

Acknowledging that there have been calls for her to speak on the matter in the recent past, following the kidnapping and murder of Andrea Bharatt, President Weekes said she had chosen to remain silent while the nation mourned, giving her time for “deliberate reflection”.

“My personal despair was not what I thought a disquieted nation needed to hear from its President and so I waited until I could process the unfolding information, observe the range of reactions, gather some data, review the advice of the professionals…” she said. 

In further reflection, she noted that bringing the nation together “first requires an admission, understanding and confrontation of our differences and working through them to a resolution in which every citizen and discrete group feels heard, understood, and valued.”

“We need to move past tolerance to arrive at trust; only then can we come to a shared understanding of who and what we are as Trinbagonians. That is the foundation for a common goal. It is transformative work that is not going to be achieved by any speech from on high,” she said. 

Click here to read the President’s full message for IWD 2021. 

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