By Kimberly Ramkhalawan
June 16, 2023
Baroness Patricia Scotland, Commonwealth Secretary General is in Trinidad and Tobago to assist in setting up the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Committees (MARAC), a programme she credits for reducing violence in the United Kingdom.
Through a three-day conference titled, Violence Self & the Young Male V: Collaboration is Essential conference, hosted by local Suicide hotline, Lifeline, the Commonwealth SG shared how collaboration and partnerships between those who operate on the political, administrative, and face-to-face levels, can set up MARAC to help decrease violence by young males, saves lives and money.
Her experience on the subject issue stems from her tenure serving as Minister of State for the Criminal Justice System and Law Reform at the Home Office and deputy to the Home Secretary, where she established an inter-ministerial committee which utilized a family intervention program similar to that which was successful in the United Kingdom. Noting that while her tenure from 2001 to 2010, where she was trusted with the reform of the civil and criminal Justice system as well as the offender management system which also included the juvenile Justice system, saw them apply a holistic approach reducing crime to the lowest level since 1981, with first time entrance into the criminal Justice system lowered by 21 percent, and a reduction in domestic violence by 64%, saving lives and lowering the cost of domestic violence to the criminal Justice system by 7.1 billion pounds per annum.
It is this success she says she believes that once agencies work together, can do the same for men across the Commonwealth, a population she puts at 2.6 billion under the age of 30, where similar challenges are echoed, declaring that the time was now to change.
Through the establishment of the MARAC, its anticipated that through effective committees, through collaboration and information sharing, aim to streamline services and resources, ultimately reducing duplication and maximizing their impact. By bringing together professionals from various sectors, MARACs provide a comprehensive approach to identifying and assisting high-risk individuals and families. The conference will explore the mechanisms of MARACs and provide guidance on how to set up these committees, promoting a unified approach to tackling violence in our communities.
But the Commonwealth SG warns of a common trend that often follows inter-ministerial committee meetings, where she says things often fall through if not done often enough and with meetings often held every three months, she suggests every three weeks, to ensure matters are brought before committees at frequent rates to ensure the rapid change that needs to be seen, and not issues “regurgitated” from the last meeting. She also adds that issues identified must be agreed then and there, all while not settling for substitutes.
During the conference several speakers on the role of men in society explored situations that have lead to the current state of affairs of violence among men today.
Psychologist, Swayne Leo Hosein Cadogan shared what gender identity was truly among men, and how complicit masculinity and hegemonic masculinity idealizes violence which becomes the answer for many. He said when men believe that they do not measure up according to how they believe they are perceived even though as not, it opens the door to becoming violent against women and children, where they are dominant. He also spoke of the three Ps men were often measured against, including providing, protecting and potency and how this was interpreted in a modern world against traditional norms and notions of how a man ought to be.
Meanwhile, it was Archbishop Jason Gordon who shared that the roadmap to raising a young man, was much different from raising a young woman. Noting that this has changed in recent years, having seen the spike in domestic violence against women in the last two years in Trinidad and Tobago, has showed that what was tried and tested for raising male children has not always worked. With Trinidad and Tobago ranking number three in the world as consumers of pornography, and young boys as early as eight years old also exposed to such explicit content, these are trends the archbishop says should be alarming if we are to “healthy masculinity and building our young nation present”.
Psychiatrist and religious leader Dr Rampersad Parasram shared that violence in society was a reflection of one not having their basic needs met. This he cites as the problem today, where people are unable to put food on the table, or cant find a job, and then for anyone to enter their lives offering counseling where they are unable to listen, as they sit with hungry bellies. This he says is the crux of the matter if interventions of help are to be made. He notes when people have their basic needs satisfied, they are able to move to another level of thinking another level of operations.
Through fostering connections, through a shared understanding of how collaboration can effectively decrease violence, the conference focused on table discussions across agencies, looking at documents based on the evaluations of young men, that have been assessed and accepted along with proposed policies of governments and international agencies, in hopes of saving lives.
During the conference, participants critically assessed the barriers to meaningful communication between stakeholders, by examining the challenges hindering collaboration, identified strategies to overcome them and foster more effective partnerships. The event also served as a platform to showcase successful policy implementations and examine best practices, enabling attendees to learn from these experiences and replicate successful models.