EDITOR’S NOTE: On Sunday, March 8, 2026, UWI St Augustine Campus Principal Professor Rose- Marie Belle Antoine gave the feature address at the InterClub of Trinidad and Tobago’s 24th annual event to commemorate International Women’s Day. UWI TODAY is pleased to share an abbreviated version of her address.
The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day—Rights. Justice. Action. For all Women and Girls—is pertinent, given a startling assertion by UN Women: Women and girls have never been closer to equality, and never closer to losing it. When we look around at the progress made over the years, one would think we would have achieved gender equality by now. Yet, that is not the case.
As a longtime advocate and champion of equity and social justice, my work has often led me to issues of women’s rights and gender. I have often said that we cannot ‘cherry-pick’ human rights. Rights are intersectional. Labour concerns must address equal remuneration; discussions on gender-based violence, power relations, HIV, or migrant justice must address poverty, structural inequalities, and often race.
When people consider rights, they often think of the law and the notion that the law treats everyone the same. Yet formal equality is often insufficient when structural and systemic inequalities persist. We must address underlying social and economic hierarchies that disadvantage particular groups to achieve substantive equality. This is especially true for women and girls who may also be members of minority groups such as the disabled, poor, migrant class, or LGBTQI+ community. Rights include protection for the underpaid domestic worker who is often a woman of colour, or the migrant woman afraid to seek help because of her status. Equality requires that we do more than simply declare rights: we must ensure the conditions to exercise these rights are present.
Trinidad and Tobago has committed to several international human rights instruments, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. While these commitments affirm rights, rights written into law are only the beginning. There are countless structural, economic, and social barriers—ranging from lacking financial resources to fear of retaliation and institutional bias. We see this in the pervasive challenge of Gender-Based Violence. If a woman’s report is dismissed or a protection order is not enforced, we know the tragic results. Our region has among the highest rates of Domestic Violence in the world. Any right that cannot be accessed or enforced is a right denied.
Our laws have yet to keep pace with the rapid advancement of technology. The evolution of AI capabilities— seen in deepfake pornography—has accelerated digital violence from stalking to revenge porn. Startling figures suggest roughly 1.8 billion women and girls have no legal protection from digital violence.
However, AI also brings opportunities. Digital inclusion and gender equality have been reframed as human rights issues. Women and girls without consistent digital access will be disproportionately excluded from benefits, reinforcing existing inequalities. Our Campus launched the Artificial Intelligence Innovation Centre to advance AI research and policy. We need frameworks to be fully operationalised— especially with gender-responsive provisions—for AI to truly benefit women and girls.
Access to justice is a foundational requirement, and a significant barrier women face is economic justice. Women comprise the majority of unpaid care workers and are often overrepresented in the lowest-paid sectors. Economic justice is not a luxury; when women’s labour is undervalued, society as a whole suffers.
In the Caribbean, our women and girls also face issues of climate justice. Climate disasters exacerbate existing inequalities. Those living in poverty are disproportionately affected by climate-related disasters, facing greater economic insecurity and challenges accessing assistance. Women emit the least greenhouse gases yet disproportionately experience the severe impacts of climate disruption. What is required is adaptation financing and disaster frameworks that reflect the realities of the most vulnerable.
In every crisis, we see the regression of decades of progress. As President of the FPATT, I have seen colleagues in war-torn countries like Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan attacked, their clinics bombed, and women killed.
Family Planning Association (FPATT) also directly confronts tangible problems faced by our women and girls. We continue to serve under-represented communities, directly addressing ongoing problems such as teenage pregnancy, lack of access to sexual and reproductive health rights, need for gynecological screening, HIV treatment, pre-menopausal care, etc.
I pause to reiterate the need for comprehensive sex education for our young people. It is not promiscuity – it is aimed at Prevention and Improved Health Outcomes. We have also increased access to rural areas with our Mobile Clinics.
May I give a plug to you to help sustain our FPATT. We are the oldest NGO in the country, proudly serving this country for over 69 years – remarkable. Now our very existence is threatened because of geopolitical issues – drying up our funding.
We need more volunteers and more funding. I hope you will help.
It is not enough to recognise these issues; we must ensure rights are made real through deliberate action. We must embrace gender-responsive budgeting. Advancing women’s rights should not be seen as a zero-sum struggle; by securing the rights of women, we strengthen families and communities.
We must enforce laws that protect women from violence, ensuring safety and dignity are fundamental rights. This requires consistent efforts to change mindsets and justice reform. For those of us in this room, our role is clear. We need influence, investment, and workplace equity. Our fight for rights, justice, and action is far from over. I urge everyone to unite to dismantle the barriers that hinder equality.
