Kamla: I will continue to champion policies to advance the causes for women

Persad-Bissessar said 20 years ago, among other issues, the Beijing Declaration sought to bring to the forefront of national agendas matters related to women such as poverty; socio-economic inequalities; education and training; women and armed conflict; women in power and decision-making and women and health.
“While there have been many achievements since then, many gaps remain. Internationally many women and girls are still faced with the reality of the denial of basic human rights — the inability to obtain or finish their education; inadequate healthcare; little or no sexual rights; forced marriage and horrific crimes of violence perpetrated against them with impunity,” she said in her statement.
“In Trinidad and Tobago our women and girls are fortunate to be able to access educational opportunities and proper healthcare; have the right to own property and earn an income; and are free to participate in politics and decision-making at all levels.
“But those opportunities were not made available overnight,” she said.
“Again, I express my gratitude to those women who have cleared the path for us to become leaders and those many civil society organisations who relentlessly advocated for the rights of women and girls. It is because of them that (today) we can be proud of our accomplishments as women. It is because of them I can address you all as Trinidad and Tobago’s first female Prime Minister.
“However we cannot shy away from the fact that many women and girls locally continue to be victims of violence, domestic abuse and sexual predators.”