JavaScript is disabled in your web browser or browser is too old to support JavaScript. Today almost all web pages contain JavaScript, a scripting programming language that runs on visitor's web browser. It makes web pages functional for specific purposes and if disabled for some reason, the content or the functionality of the web page can be limited or unavailable.

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Mohit vows crackdown on elder abuse

by

Shastri Boodan
30 days ago
20250615
Minister of the People and Social Development Vandana Mohit, fourth from right, joins members of the Geriatic Society of T&T including Father Martin Sirju, right, and president of the society Dr Lavanya Thondavada, fourth from left, for a photo yesterday.

Minister of the People and Social Development Vandana Mohit, fourth from right, joins members of the Geriatic Society of T&T including Father Martin Sirju, right, and president of the society Dr Lavanya Thondavada, fourth from left, for a photo yesterday.

SHASTRI BOODAN

Shas­tri Boodan

Free­lance Cor­re­spon­dent

El­der abuse is a silent scourge af­fect­ing Trinidad and To­ba­go, says Min­is­ter of the Peo­ple and So­cial De­vel­op­ment Van­dana Mo­hit.

The min­is­ter, is­su­ing a firm warn­ing dur­ing a na­tion­al sym­po­sium yes­ter­day to mark World El­der Abuse Aware­ness Day yes­ter­day, said the Gov­ern­ment will not tol­er­ate any abuse against the el­der­ly.

Speak­ing at the event host­ed by the Geri­atric So­ci­ety of Trinidad and To­ba­go at the Church of St Phillip and St James in Ch­agua­nas, Mo­hit called on cit­i­zens to break their si­lence and re­port sus­pect­ed abuse with­in their com­mu­ni­ties. She as­sured that the min­istry would re­spond swift­ly to any re­ports re­ceived.

Mo­hit–who high­light­ed its var­i­ous forms—phys­i­cal, emo­tion­al, fi­nan­cial, and ne­glect—ex­pressed frus­tra­tion that it con­tin­ues de­spite the ex­is­tence of le­gal frame­works and so­cial sup­port sys­tems.

“Our el­ders are too of­ten the silent suf­fer­ers of an un­spo­ken in­jus­tice. El­der abuse, in its many forms, whether phys­i­cal, emo­tion­al, fi­nan­cial or through sheer ne­glect,” she said.

“De­spite laws, in­sti­tu­tions and decades of so­cial progress, el­der abuse con­tin­ues, in homes, in com­mu­ni­ties, and some­times even in places meant for heal­ing and pro­tec­tion.”

Mo­hit said such abuse of­ten re­mains hid­den due to shame and so­ci­etal taboos.

“But let us be clear: abuse of our el­ders is not a pri­vate mat­ter; it is a pub­lic out­rage. This is not just a call to ac­tion for gov­ern­ment min­istries or so­cial work­ers; this is a call to all of us. To speak up when some­thing feels wrong. To check in on our el­der­ly neigh­bours. To ad­vo­cate for stronger pro­tec­tions, bet­ter ser­vices, and above all, a cul­ture where old­er per­sons are revered, not ig­nored. In this fight, aware­ness is our first weapon,” she added.

She com­mend­ed the Geri­atric So­ci­ety of T&T for its con­tin­ued ef­forts in ad­vo­cat­ing for el­der rights and bring­ing the is­sue to na­tion­al at­ten­tion.

Al­so speak­ing at the event, Ro­man Catholic priest Fa­ther Mar­tin Sir­ju out­lined the many forms of abuse af­fect­ing the el­der­ly, in­clud­ing the of­ten-over­looked cat­e­go­ry of spir­i­tu­al abuse.

He ex­plained that spir­i­tu­al abuse can in­volve the dis­re­spect and ma­nip­u­la­tion of a per­son’s re­li­gious and spir­i­tu­al be­liefs, such as pres­sur­ing them to par­tic­i­pate in re­li­gious ac­tiv­i­ties or rit­u­als against their will, pres­sur­ing them to con­vert, and re­fus­ing to bury them un­der par­tic­u­lar rites.

Fa­ther Sir­ju crit­i­cised re­li­gious lead­ers who ex­ploit their au­thor­i­ty to in­tim­i­date or ma­nip­u­late el­der­ly fol­low­ers, stat­ing that some even sug­gest ques­tion­ing doc­trine or lead­er­ship is sin­ful while spread­ing er­ro­neous teach­ings.

He fur­ther warned of fi­nan­cial ex­ploita­tion dis­guised as re­li­gious du­ty, not­ing that the el­der­ly are some­times per­suad­ed to do­nate large sums or leave their es­tates to church­es or min­istries un­der the guise of “God’s Will” or in the hope of “bless­ings to come in the af­ter­life as heav­en­ly re­wards”.

The priest al­so high­light­ed the prob­lem of “spir­i­tu­al sham­ing” and the prac­tice of mov­ing el­der­ly peo­ple from one faith heal­er to an­oth­er, com­pound­ing their vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty.

The sym­po­sium con­clud­ed with a re­newed call for pub­lic aware­ness, in­sti­tu­tion­al sup­port, and cul­tur­al change to com­bat el­der abuse in all its forms.


Related articles

Sponsored

Weather

PORT OF SPAIN WEATHER

Sponsored

Today's
Guardian

Publications

Shastri Boodan

Shastri Boodan

Apsara inspires youth through culture

8 hours ago
Dr Mariama Alleyne

Dr Mariama Alleyne

Dr Mariama Alleyne

Dr Mariama Alleyne

Dr Mariama Alleyne: Global Hero of Hope supports cancer survivors

Yesterday
During my consultation with Ms Brafit CEO Nicole Joseph-Chin, what was supposed to be a simple mastectomy bra fitting became something much deeper. Her thoughtful questions unlocked emotions I didn’t even realise I was holding in. She comforted, reassured, and helped me face the truth of what was coming. That bra wasn’t just clothing—it was the first real symbol of life after surgery.

During my consultation with Ms Brafit CEO Nicole Joseph-Chin, what was supposed to be a simple mastectomy bra fitting became something much deeper. Her thoughtful questions unlocked emotions I didn’t even realise I was holding in. She comforted, reassured, and helped me face the truth of what was coming. That bra wasn’t just clothing—it was the first real symbol of life after surgery.

During my consultation with Ms Brafit CEO Nicole Joseph-Chin, what was supposed to be a simple mastectomy bra fitting became something much deeper. Her thoughtful questions unlocked emotions I didn’t even realise I was holding in. She comforted, reassured, and helped me face the truth of what was coming. That bra wasn’t just clothing—it was the first real symbol of life after surgery.

During my consultation with Ms Brafit CEO Nicole Joseph-Chin, what was supposed to be a simple mastectomy bra fitting became something much deeper. Her thoughtful questions unlocked emotions I didn’t even realise I was holding in. She comforted, reassured, and helped me face the truth of what was coming. That bra wasn’t just clothing—it was the first real symbol of life after surgery.

Standing on business, not pity: My fight begins–Part 2

Yesterday
Gillian de Souza graces the cover of the book: Minding Their Own Business: Five Female Leaders From Trinidad and Tobago authored by Trini-American Joanne Kilgour Dowdy, Professor of Literacy Studies at the College of Education Health and Human Services at Kent State University.

Gillian de Souza graces the cover of the book: Minding Their Own Business: Five Female Leaders From Trinidad and Tobago authored by Trini-American Joanne Kilgour Dowdy, Professor of Literacy Studies at the College of Education Health and Human Services at Kent State University.

Gillian de Souza graces the cover of the book: Minding Their Own Business: Five Female Leaders From Trinidad and Tobago authored by Trini-American Joanne Kilgour Dowdy, Professor of Literacy Studies at the College of Education Health and Human Services at Kent State University.

Gillian de Souza graces the cover of the book: Minding Their Own Business: Five Female Leaders From Trinidad and Tobago authored by Trini-American Joanne Kilgour Dowdy, Professor of Literacy Studies at the College of Education Health and Human Services at Kent State University.

Gillian de Souza’s American culinary journey springs from T&T roots

Yesterday
iiq_pixel