Institute for Gender and Development Studies


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Research Assistant - Break the Silence Action Research Project
 

Biography

Marcus Kissoon is Research Assistant on the the Break the Silence action research project and campaign. He is an activist who has worked alongside individuals and groups of the women's movement since 2008. His areas of interest include sexual assault, domestic violence, HIV, migration, child abuse and sex work. His research focuses on Caribbean masculinities, Indianness and their implications for disclosing and seeking help amongst male survivors of child abuse.

Marcus coordinates the activities and events, trainings and workshops related to the BTS campaign, keeping the campaign alive and expanding the reach of the campaign to include new communities and groups through annual and specific initiatives such as the recent Art in Schools initiative. He represents the Break the Silence project at meetings and events of NGOs, CBOs and other organizations building partnerships and collaborative projects towards awareness of gender and Child Sexual Abuse.

Media

Media  & Interviews

June 2020 - UNFPA Against My Will on Child Marriage in Trinidad and Tobago 

May 2020 - Spotlight Initiative: Marcus Kissoon talks Family Violence Elimination Programme

Nov 2019 - Break the Silence Network annual meeting in commemoration of Universal Children's Day - Marcus Kissoon Review of Activities 2018-2019

Feb 2019 - TTT Marcus Kissoon and CAISO's Colin Robinson discussing the Sex Offenders Registry legislation.

Feb 2019 - IETV interview on Child Sexual Abise and findings of tthe Break the Silence project

Feb 2019 - CNC3 Interview on incest in rural communities. Marcus Kissoon: Mayaro incest info not new, only highlighted after tragedy

Nov 2018 - CNC3 Morning Brew - Marcus Kissoon the PRO of the Network of NGO's today on the Morning Brew told Hema Ramkissoon that they are working to eliminate gender norms that put people in a vulnerable space. 16 Days of Activism. 

March 2018 - WomenEverywhere International Women's Week – WE Talk: Women – Not up for grabs. Not for your validation.

April 2014 - Ms Diana Mahabir- Wyatt and Marcus Kissoon, are on set to discuss the risk that children in orphanages and homes face

June 24, 2012 - Guardian "Marcus Kissoon lives to help others"

Research

Areas of Interest
  • Sexual assault
  • Domestic violence
  • HIV
  • Migration
  • Child abuse
  • Sex work
  • Caribbean Queer issues
  • Caribbean Masculinities
  • Indianness
Masters Research project 

"Processes of Disclosure and Gender Negotiations Amongst Indo-Caribbean Male Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse/Sexual Assault" 2019

 

Teaching Assistant

  • GEND 2013- Men and Masculinities in the Caribbean

 

 

BTS Outreach & Collaborations
2018–2019

Trainings, Workshops, Collaborations

June 2018 - Pride TT workshop with the LGBT Community on gender, child sexual abuse and referrals services.

June 2018 - Masculinity Conversation - to create a space where men, of diverse cultural and social backgrounds, can come together to reflect on masculinity and violence in the local and global contexts in collaboration with T&T Coalition Against Domestic Violence. 

May 2018 - Presentation to Tunapuna-Piarco and Central Regions communities  in collaboration with the National AIDS Coordinating Committee (NACC)/IGDS/BTS

April 2018 - The Barbaershop Initiative - conversations on men in communities in collaboration with the Office of the Prine Minister. 

April 2018 - Child Sexual Abuse Symposium and launch of the BTS Teacher Toolkit in collaboration with the UWI, School of Education Library

BTS Fundraising Initiatives

August 2018 - Fundraising for the Break the Silence Campaign at the CEDAW Committee of Trinidad and Tobago celebration for Professor Reddocks position on CEDAW.

 

BTS Outreach & Collaborations
2019–2020

Contributor to Gender-Based Violence and Child Sexual Abuse migrant friendly Break the Silence Teacher Training Toolkit

Trainings, Workshops, Collaborations

May 2019 - Mentorship Training with Faculty of Law Youth Group in collaboration with IGDS Ignite. 

May 2019 - "Artivism" pilot projects in Carapichaima East Secondary and Saraswati Girls Hindu College, Chaguanas
The aim of this project is to train a group of "artivists" (creatives, art teachers and social workers) on the issues of gender and CSA and to encourage them to create an art piece collectively to promote healing, to make an intervention, and to grow awareness around theses issues and student experiences.

Feb 2019 - Presentation on Child Sexual Abuse in T&T for the UWI Faculty of Law Youth Forum

Feb 2019 - Workshop on gender, sexual health and violence at SERVOL, in collaboration with the Red Cross 

Dec 2018 - Volunteer Training on Communication skills and active listening and on topics such as Child Sexual Abuse and the Domestic Violence Act in collaboration with the T&T Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Media professional Akash Samaroo. 

Dec 2018 - Outreach at the UWI Youth Research Conference

Oct 2018 - Two-session workshop with the Maloney community on gender, domestic violence, child sexual abuse and services available for referrals in collaboration with T&T Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Sept 2018 - Mentorship Training with 2Cents Movement, spoken word artists, on gender-based violence and the link to Child Sexual Abuse 

 

Appointments and Memberships

Caribbean Lasion Officer, Caribbean Equalities Project (NYC)

Youth Representative, CariMan

Member, CEDAW Committee of Trinidad and Tobago

Paralegal Community Officer, Trinidad and Tobago Transgender Coalition

Member, Women of Substance, Tobago

Member, Women of the Soil

Member, Raoe Crisis Society of T&T

Member, Coalition Against Domesstic Violence

 

E-mail: btsecsa@gmail.com   |   marcuskissoon@gmail.com  

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