Responses to Domestic Violence in Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract

Gives a definition of domestic violence and states that for the purposes of this paper the definition will be confined to an examination of realtionships between adult heterosexuals. It argues that an interdisciplinary approach rather than a multi-disciplinary approach is needed in processes of interrogation and that in many ways the responses to domestic violence in Trinidad and Tobago have largely been shaped pragmatically by the NGO sector, in direct response to the felt needs of the population of women being battered. For this paper then, borrows a page from the NGO movement and begins the inquiry by asking what are the central issues involved in domestic violence and what has been done in Trinidad and Tobago to addres them? This issue /response approach forms the basis for the exploration of where gaps exist and suggests the way forward.