Justice in Barbados: Woman beater walks free, victim pressured to not testify

Barbados Court again affirms right of men to abuse women

by Mary Tulong

Ryan Hinds "Women are nothing."

Nothing better illustrates the plight of women in Barbados and the sad male-friendly and elites-friendly condition of our justice system than the recent case of former Barbados cricket captain Ryan Hinds.

Hinds was charged with SEVEN charges against Charlene Osbourne, but he walked free on December 5th after the victim was pressured to not testify. Without her testimony, that was the end of of the charges.

This happens all the time in Barbados courts when the all-male system looks after its own.

Women are beaten and it usually takes more than one beating for the police to lay charges, or the case has to be a bad one. Arrest and charges are the exception.

The police are reluctant to lay charges for two reasons…

1. Men have the right to beat their wives, girl friends and new female acquaintances on this island without interference from the authorities so long as they don’t go too far.
2. Police know that 90% of the time that they do lay charges the female victim refuses to testify in the end and all their work is for naught. As a result, police don’t lay assault charges until several offenses or a bad beating happens.

The fraud of the justice system was again laid bare in the Ryan Hinds case.

Why did the court let Ryan Hinds go? Why did the court not force Osbourne to testify? Because that is the way things are done in Barbados. Women are nothing. Male elites can do whatever they want.

What was accomplished in the Ryan Hinds case? Many old lessons were reinforced!

Men again learned that no matter how badly you beat women, they can always be pressured to drop the charges. Police learned that it is useless to treat an assault on a woman seriously. The judge learned that assault charges are a waste of time when a West Indies cricketer is involved.

Abusive animals learned that once the police are involved they can pretend to modify their behaviour, take “anger management counseling” and walk free.

Many jurisdictions in the USA and the United Kingdom stopped this charade ten and twenty years ago by refusing to drop charges. Sometimes the women are charged for failing to testify. The result is that men and women know that assault is serious business. They know that it better not happen and if the police become involved charges are laid when warranted and they cannot be dropped.

That results in respect for women.

What happened with Ryan Hinds was a lesson that women are nothing in Barbados.

Nation News: Hinds at peace

Barbados’ largest party boat MV Harbour Master: Going, going, GONE!

There was a time not so long ago when you had to reserve weeks in advance to cruise on the MV Harbour Master. Lately though the boat had been looking a little shopworn and half full most of the time. I can’t remember when I’ve seen it at capacity like the old days.

Is this a major or minor indicator of the health of our tourism industry? Is it a local management issue… or is it, as the owners told Barbados Today, just part of a natural venue cycle – made worse by the arrival of the Jolly Roger?

The boat is off to Trini after New Years with 15 jobs gone. And folks… that boat and those jobs aren’t returning anytime soon.

I have this feeling that most of what I read and hear in the news these days is “put on a happy face” stuff, but every so often a story just cuts through the cow manure and stands with clarity and truth. This is one of those stories.

They can’t fill the boat anymore.

End of story.

Photo courtesy of Barbados Today – doing Bajan news much better than The Nation, The Barbados Advocate and the CBC all put together.

Read Barbados Today: MV Harbour Master destined for T&T