Whitney Melinard, founder of the Kalinago Ripple Effect Initiative, a newly registered social advocacy group, is using her experience as a victim of child sexual assault, to highlight the need for more resources to be allocated toward combatting child sexual abuse and other social issues in Dominica.
In an emotional 8-minute video, to commemorate Child Assault Awareness Month, Melinard spoke about her personal experience as a sexual assault survivor.
“Since April 1st I have been spending a lot of time thinking about what I wanted to say but how does one speak on an issue when you don’t feel so strong inside?…I asked myself what it really means to be a child or a youth in our community. Yes, we have deep thoughts, ideas and values, we are sometime blessed with successes, a few of us live sheltered…lives but a lot of us also live with hurtful experiences that we prefer to bury in the past, but there comes a time when we take hold of the power to speak and be heard and to fight back when we are silenced,” the Kalinago youth stated.
In response to those self-introspective questions, Melinard said it became clear to her that as a sexual assault survivor who has lived with chronic pain, conditioned by a culture of silence and still not brave enough to say the names of her predators -people who should have protected her- she has now chosen to speak out.
“I am deciding today to take the power of my voice back. Today I am choosing to be the youth model who encourages others to speak and seek support for their experiences. In this day, when I can barely spend a week without hearing of a case of child abuse in the Kalinago Territory and in Dominica by extension, I stand aghast by the unjust men and women who are the fabric of the society yet fail to put the interest of children and youth as the priority in the family,” the young advocate declared.
She said her life changed forever after she was sexually assaulted as a child, that part of her “shut down” for many years, and she was too ashamed to tell anyone.
“I feel ashamed for what happened to me and I still have days when I feel it was my fault,” Melinard revealed. “After I shared what happened to me with my parents…No one outside of my mom offered guidance or a helping hand to lead me to a place to where I could get justice. Only one person, an Education Officer, pointed my mom in the direction of the mental health assistance that I was in dire need of. My own family circle opted to defend the perpetrators, who by then, were out of state”
Melinard also chastised her mom for not being aggressive enough in trying to break the culture of silence abuse that engulfs the Kalinago Territory on the issue of sexual abuse.
“To some extent, I think that my mom too, did not highlight the ordeal as much as she highlights everything Kalinago because it was unpleasant and maybe because it had the potential of adding to the negative stigma already attached to the Kalinago Territory,” she explained. “I hid myself and talents for a long time until I began to feel physical pain. My stomach ached, my hair fell, my grades took a head dive in secondary school and even then, I am sure that no one thought to question these indicators.”
With a strong support system now in place, Melinard plans to share her experience to encourage sexually abused children and youth to break the silence and to speak out.
“I also hope to see children and youth become a priority in Dominica. We may not be able to control all of the challenges faced by children and youth, but we can work together to heal each other, and we can also try to find the strengthen to ask for the help we need. My story is just one of many,” she said.
In 2018, although she did not produce any figures, Head of the Child Abuse Prevention Unit, Jemma Azille-Lewis announced an increase in the reported cases of incest in Dominica after Hurricane Maria adding to the overall tally of sexual abuse cases on the island.
Melinard and another member of the Kalinago Ripple Effect Initiative, Aminah Cuffy, who accompanied her in the video, are questioning how many of these cases were successfully prosecuted and how many of the victims received comprehensive counselling.
As far as Melinard and Cuffy are concerned, the existing state mechanism to deal with cases of child abuse continues to fail children and youth. They also emphasized the need to provide adequate information on child sexual abuse to homes and communities on the island in order to change the culture of silence and “hush money”.
Melinard says she is therefore “respectfully” challenging the Prime Minister who’s also the minister for finance, to make a million dollars available to the Social Services Division in the 2020-2021 national budget.
“In addition to the one million dollars budgetary allocations, I am also kindly requesting, an additional 10 social workers attached to the understaffed division of social services and Ministry of Kalinago Territory Upliftment and Kalinago Council,” she stated. “The resources will be utilized to implement programs geared at addressing the culture of silence. I see it; child abuse is now one big disaster that keeps re-occurring. Yet, we all fail to move our children and youth from the red zone into the safe zone.”
The Triple Effect Initiative’s recommendations to deal with the child sexual abuse issue include the establishment of a family court, striker penalties for perpetrators, a sexual offenders register and stronger and more efficient collaboration among the social services, law enforcement and legal system.
The members of the group are urging the Dominican public to support them in their appeal to the Prime Minister.
Established in January this year with the aim of empowering all Kalinago Youth through advocacy, the group’s six main areas of focus are 1. child abuse, 2. persons with disabilities, 3. care of the elderly, 4. substance and alcohol abuse, 5. vocational training and employment and 6. Self-Identity and leadership. Each of these areas is headed by a member of the Ripple Effect Initiative and that member is responsible for presenting to the membership, an action plan to address the issue. According to Melinard, the intention is to empower all members by encouraging them to seek positive ways to contribute to life in the Kalinago Territory and Dominica by extension.
The Triple Effect Initiative plans to hold a hot soup drive as its next activity for this semester.
Bravo. This is indeed an issue. I always shake my head at 1 o clock when the school children are let out from school. Grown men loitering on the “blocks” and bus stops making sexual advances to school girls in uniform. These young girls themselves, still children sometimes get pregnant for these guys, creating more social issues if she doesnt have a strong family support structure. the issue of incest itself, i cannot understant it. As a man, you have to protect your family, not prey on them. That is something else i dont know how to deal with in words.
I applaud the young Kalinago ladies. I like their tact and class. So far Melina has addressed pertinent issues that keep getting swet under the rug. Keep it up.
I’m so impressed with these Kalinago young females in recent times. They are courageous, intelligent and just not only speak out, they take the bull by the horns.
Ms. Melinard, your head is in the right place. We need many more social activists like you and members of your newly formed organization instead of the ever increasing number of politicians.
For the good of the country and the Kalinago territory in particular, I hope your plea for adequate funding and additional resources from the government is granted by the powers that be.
Child Abuse, especially of a sexual nature, is much too prevalent in among a small population like Domini. Much more needs to be done with urgency to prevent one money child from becoming another victim of this ever growing epidemic. It’s a disease.
Outstanding!! You are a leader in every sense. We need more like you around.
Could not have been better put! I hope that the PM responds in the affirmative, but from past actions, this is not his forte. He prefers to ask those involved to “fix it”.
How consequential it is to feel unsafe.
HOTEP!
I am so proud of you Whitney! It takes courage to speak out about such a taboo subject, taboo for many communities and families in Dominica. I know from my relatives who reside in the Kalinago Territory that sexual abuse is so rampant and as you stated the abusers are persons whom are supposed to protect the abused.
Whitney, I’m sorry that you have had to suffer the horror of child sexual abuse. Physical and emotional abuse is never easy to bear, but it is especially hard for children. I admire your courage in taking the stance you have taken in talking about it and positioning yourself to help others. What you say is true. Victims seldom talk about their abuse and lack of support that they have experienced. When there is no reporting, there is usually no help. Yet, the impact of abuse is typically something that adversely affects the victim for a lifetime. The feelings of shame and even blaming yourself is typical. I applaud you on your efforts and wish you the best in your endeavors. I hope that you get the help that you seek.