While the public utterances have shone a light what appears to be a thorn in the side of an NGO whose very responsibility is to protect and uplift youth- for those who have directly been impacted- the pain is not at all new.

 

Writer and activist, Ashlee Burnett, was one of the voices to publicly call on the organization to practice accountability in handling reports of abuse.

 

“Looking back, the reprehensible behavior began in 2014, I had just turned 17 years old. I met the perpetrator when he was part of a 2 Cents program at my School.”

 

Later becoming a member of the group herself, she eventually raised an alarm with the group’s management- in hopes the perpetrator would be apprehended for his actions.

 

“As far back as 2017, I had a candid conversation with Management wherein I was asked, in the event of any investigation, to remain silent about my age when the offending behaviour began,” she said, adding that follow-up efforts were met with the same approach. “Over the years I would tell other Members and Staff in group chats

and in-person that we needed to deal with the predator in our midst and I was not taken seriously by some and, in some instances, I was told that I am ‘crazy’. It became clear that Management did not feel it important enough to remove him from circulation permanently.”

 

Burnett told Ojo World TT that she tried again on June 17th, 2020- but no deliberate action was taken.

 

Aware that scrutiny would follow, she took another pathway to demand accountability.

While a board and staff member of the NGO have since reached out- little effort has been made to properly address the wrongs committed, according to Burnett. “I am hopeful that the persons who facilitated the predatory behaviour and culture are removed and that 2 Cents can use this as a ‘coming of age’ moment, take responsibility, be accountable and keep up with the modern times where ‘business as usual’ is not tolerated.”

 

Ashlee was not alone in challenging the organization to better support victims of abuse; several other persons once involved in the organization have spoken out- affirming the abuse and subsequent silencing of victims and other concerned members.

 

“I’ve been reluctant to share my experience with the @2CentsMovement for lots of reasons – at the root of them are stories that are not mine to share, and I’ve been threatened with lawsuits about this already,” one user wrote on Twitter.

 

On the heels of the allegations resurfacing, the 2 Cents Movement has posted about its Wellbeing Committee- which it says is aimed at creating “a safe channel for accountability, transparency and the reporting of misconduct by any member of The 2 Cents Movement” and to “ensure policies and procedures for the safety and wellbeing of our stakeholders are continuously up-to-date and in accordance with international best practices.”

 

Images of the person to whom the allegations are directed have now conspicuously been removed from their social media.

 

The Bocas Lit Festival has also announced that it would no longer be working with the NGO.

 

While it is impossible to reverse the past- Burnett plans to continue using her voice to demand accountability. “I now have greater insight into my younger self and the difficulty young people can face when mentors and “trusted adults” abuse their proximity…this experience has made me sharper and I now know how a culture of collusion, concession, complicity and silence in an organization can breach trust and confidence and infect people’s ability to think clearly. I now walk in my truth and hope that others would speak out too so that the lessons can be learned and help set the tone that corporate ‘lip service’ is not enough,” she said.

 

To victims who still suffer in silence, she had this to say: “I know your story, but trust that support and strength come, and when I spoke out, it came from far and wide and it will be the same for you. Change is here, seek out your tribe, and hold people and corporations accountable. The experience can be dark and hopeless at times but change is happening now.”