Policy Transfer and Implementation Failure: A Review of the Policy Domestic Violence in Trinidad and Tobago

• NCJ Number: 190214
• Journal: Caribbean Journal of Criminology and Social Psychology Volume: 5 Issue: 1&2 Dated: January/July 2000 Pages: 57-80
• Author(s): Ann M. Bissessar
• Date Published: 2000
• Length: 24 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Description
• Language: English
• Country: Trinidad and Tobago

Annotation

This article reviews the measures that were introduced in both the United States and the United Kingdom and other developed countries and in Trinidad and Tobago to deal with domestic violence.

Abstract

The remedies in the Domestic Violence Acts of 1991 and 1999 in Trinidad and Tobago were similar to the legislative measures taken in developed countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom. The Domestic Violence Act of 1991 proclaimed domestic violence to be a crime and allowed the victims to take out a Protection Order against the perpetrator in any Magistrate’s Court. However, the increase in the number of domestic violence incidents suggested that the Act and its implementation were inadequate to meet the challenges of the intensity and scope of this kind of crime. The Domestic Violence Act of 1999 was introduced in an attempt to address the shortcomings of the 1991 Act. But the ambiguous terminology regarding police response to domestic violence situations was confusing to both laymen and police officers. It was evident that this approach was ad hoc and selective without thought for the relevance and effectiveness to the domestic situation in these States. While the Act of 1999 sought to curb crimes of domestic violence by laying down a legislative framework, sufficient account was not taken of the factors that gave rise to crimes of violence, the need to provide economic security for the victims, and the need for the State to provide shelters for the victims. The bureaucracy of the State was not prepared to provide the necessary services outlined in the Act. It is clear that the two Acts were merely a response to various pressure groups and little consideration was given to the situation of local women, their social, cultural, and economic condition, or the involvement of the police to the provisions of the Acts. 1 table, 12 endnotes, 37 references