标签： Trinidad and Tobago

A growing poverty crisis is reshaping vulnerability across Trinidad and Tobago, with economic strain pushing even employed households into financial instability and creating what local aid organizations have termed a rising cohort of “new poor” citizens. Long-standing charitable groups that have spent decades supporting marginalized communities say the demographic of people seeking help has shifted dramatically in recent years, driven by skyrocketing living costs and stagnant wages that have left even middle-income working families unable to cover basic needs. And across the board, they warn, children bear the most severe, long-lasting damage of deepening deprivation.

Latest 2025 data from the Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative underscores the scope of risk facing the nation’s population. While just 0.5% of Trinbagonian citizens are categorized as multidimensionally poor, nearly 39% of the population faces high risk of falling into poverty. Urban residents face slightly higher vulnerability at 40.1%, a gap that reflects the disproportionate pressure of rising consumer costs in city centers compared to rural regions, where vulnerability sits at 6.6%. Independent estimates from local aid groups place the national overall poverty rate between 13% and 18%, with children overrepresented among affected households.

Simone de la Bastide, president of The Children’s Ark – a 25-year-old organization dedicated to supporting marginalized, abused and at-risk youth across the country – described the shifting landscape of need in an interview with the *Sunday Express*. “A percentage of the middle-income families are also struggling due to lack of secure jobs and the higher cost of living today. Let’s face it – everything goes up today but salaries,” she explained. De la Bastide emphasized that children suffer irreversible harm when raised in unstable, impoverished conditions: chronic stress from inadequate housing, food insecurity and family instability triggers depression, long-term physical health complications, and stunted social and mental development. Many children raised in poverty live in single-parent households with multiple siblings, often in overcrowded, unsafe structures or on the streets, raising alarming questions about missing youth who have disappeared from city street populations, she added.

In April 2025, The Children’s Ark demonstrated its on-the-ground impact by gifting a fully furnished, three-bedroom container home valued at TT $250,000 to an eight-member family that had been living in dangerous, substandard housing in St Augustine. Despite this progress, de la Bastide stressed that widespread deprivation often remains hidden from general public view, and that systemic change cannot come from charity alone. At the handover ceremony, she noted: “It is truly unacceptable that members of our society live in such squalor. There is such a great and serious need for significant improvement in many spheres within our social services.”

De la Bastide has called for formal collaboration between the national government and local registered charities, arguing that grassroots organizations already have on-the-ground connections to vulnerable communities that government agencies cannot match. “The NGOs, FBOs (faith-based organisations) and CBOs (community-based organisations) are on the ground, so to speak, and are in touch with the needs of the people and their communities. Our children are the nation’s future,” she said. By combining the government’s resources with grassroots outreach, she argued, the country could lift thousands of at-risk youth out of poverty, prevent them from falling into cycles of crime, and improve overall family well-being.

Zahir Ali, founder of 2025 *Express* Community Group of the Year Glimmer of Hope, echoed de la Bastide’s observations, confirming that poverty has expanded far beyond the nation’s traditional vulnerable groups to reach working households. “There has been a marked increase in working people who are still unable to make ends meet. Rising expenses and stagnant wages have made it difficult for many employed individuals to maintain a sustainable quality of life,” Ali explained. Demand for Glimmer of Hope’s humanitarian services has surged dramatically over the past year, Ali said, with persistent unemployment and soaring living costs pushing more families to seek aid. Unlike years past, many new clients now turn to local trusted charities because they deliver tangible support rather than empty political promises, he added.

Like de la Bastide, Ali highlighted that children face the most damaging long-term impacts of growing poverty. Limited access to nutritious food, quality healthcare and safe housing undermines children’s physical development, emotional stability and academic progress, creating barriers that limit their economic potential well into adulthood. To illustrate the current reality of poverty in the country, Ali shared the story of a Golconda family that faces daily uncertainty about where their next meal will come from – one of dozens of similar cases the organization has supported in recent months.

While Ali acknowledged that temporary charitable aid eases immediate hardship, he argued that long-term solutions require addressing the root causes of poverty through systematic empowerment rather than one-off handouts. He praised the current government for its ongoing efforts to address the crisis, noting that the administration has only been in office for one year, and deep-rooted systemic problems cannot be resolved overnight. To accelerate progress, Ali recommended that the government partner with the Ministry of Social Development to conduct a comprehensive national needs assessment to deliver targeted support to the most vulnerable households. He also advocated for policy shifts that prioritize skills development and economic empowerment to help families build sustainable, independent livelihoods over time.

Both organizations agree that while charity remains a critical lifeline for struggling households, it cannot solve the expanding poverty crisis on its own. Only coordinated action between government and grassroots community groups, they argue, can create the sustained, systemic change needed to reverse rising poverty and protect the nation’s most vulnerable citizens.

A brazen early-morning home invasion targeting a 70-year-old farmer in Central Trinidad has ended in a fatal shootout with law enforcement, leaving four alleged assailants dead, two in custody, and two fugitives still the subject of an intense manhunt as of Thursday night.

According to an official media statement from the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), the violent incident began just before 4 a.m. yesterday, when the retired farmer from Cunupia was woken by a crashing noise at his rural property. When he investigated, he was confronted by a group of armed, masked men wearing gloves who immediately announced they were there to rob him. The attackers bound the elderly man before fleeing his home with just over TT $1,000 in cash and his personal mobile phone.

Thanks to quick alerts from local residents and intelligence-driven operations, TTPS officers backed by units of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force were able to intercept the suspect group not long after the robbery, near a neighborhood supermarket off Esmeralda Road on Ramnarine Trace. A violent exchange of gunfire broke out during the interception: three suspects were shot dead at the scene and later pronounced dead after being transported to a local hospital, and two additional suspects were taken into police custody immediately. Two other members of the group managed to slip away from the confrontation, sparking a widespread search that continued through the day.

By 12:30 p.m. yesterday, search teams returning to comb three wooded areas adjacent to Esmeralda Road found the body of a fourth suspect, bringing the total number of fatalities to four. Law enforcement officials framed the operation as part of a sustained crackdown on rising violent property crime and invasive home robberies across the region, with senior leadership crediting seamless inter-agency coordination between police and military units for the rapid response.

When reporters from the Sunday Express visited the affected Esmeralda Road and Sampson Trace Extension communities yesterday, unmarked police cruisers were visible conducting regular patrols across the neighborhood and surrounding residential areas. One anonymous couple living on Charles Street, off Esmeralda Road, confirmed one of the fatally shot suspects was killed on their property, and offered praise for the speed of police response to the incident.

“It was a scary episode to go through; it was frightening for all the neighbours, but we worked together with the police and that solved the situation,” the woman of the couple told reporters. She added that the neighborhood had been on high alert for weeks: “Only the night before we began measuring burglar-proofing because we were hearing about these robberies inside here.” She recalled hearing gunshots early that morning but only realized the severity of the situation after neighbors called to alert her, after which she and her husband activated their home security cameras and saw a heavy police presence in the area. Local neighbors coordinated through group phone calls to share information, and when officers approached the couple’s yard, her husband opened their electronic gate to give police immediate access.

Another anonymous resident from Raghunanan Road said she had been alerted via a 3:21 a.m. WhatsApp message from a neighbor that the same gang of robbers had returned to the area and was attempting to break into another home. She told reporters police were called and arrived within 10 minutes to begin sweeping the area for the perpetrators, who residents told officers had hidden in thick brush behind local homes. Police moved along side roads toward the Cunupia area, stopping vehicles to search for the suspects, before temporarily pulling back. Around 5:30 a.m., residents reported hearing the distant sound of gunfire from the direction Ramnarine Trace. The resident said she believes the two remaining fugitives likely escaped through a network of overgrown brush and unmarked dirt tracks that connect Raghunanan Road to nearby residential streets in Cunupia.

Shortly after 1:30 p.m. yesterday, Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro released a public voice note advising all residents in the affected areas of Ramnarine Trace, Esmeralda Road, Sampson Road, Charles Trace and surrounding neighborhoods to remain vigilant, double-check home security measures, and immediately report any sighting of suspicious individuals to police via the emergency lines 999 or 555. He confirmed that the full weight of the TTPS is focused on locating the two escaped suspects.

Senior Superintendent Rudolph Bhagwandeen explained in a morning telephone interview that the operation was launched after two separate home invasion reports were received from adjacent communities, prompting a rapid mobilization of both police and military personnel. A loaded illegal firearm was recovered from the suspects during the search, he added.

Bhagwandeen noted that rising home invasion rates have become a troubling crisis for the Central Police Division over recent weeks, with repeated incidents reported across Chaguanas, Cunupia, Freeport, and the Las Lomas area north of the division’s jurisdiction. “Based on the trend of the home invasions and the modus of the persons committing the home invasions, we have identified the trends and have identified the increase,” he said, explaining that law enforcement had adjusted and ramped up anti-crime strategies in response to the spike.

Investigations had previously established that the responsible gang typically operates in groups of five, all wearing masks and gloves to avoid leaving evidence. Bhagwandeen confirmed two home invasions were carried out within blocks of each other on Wednesday night, and before yesterday’s confrontation, investigators were working to determine if two separate crews were operating in the region, or if a single network had split into two teams. It now appears the entire gang was active in the Esmeralda Road area yesterday morning, he said.

The targeted string of home invasions has stretched across the corridor between Longdenville and Raghunanan Road. In one of the most recent high-profile incidents on Friday, a 44-year-old Raghunanan Road woman was held at gunpoint and terrorized by three masked robbers in her own home.

When asked if the slain suspects had prior criminal records with the Central Division, Bhagwandeen confirmed they were already known to law enforcement. He acknowledged that persistent home invasions have left homeowners across Central Trinidad on edge for months, and that the issue is consistently the top topic of concern at community council meetings and police public town halls across the district.

For years, a hidden, highly organized criminal network operating across Trinidad and Tobago has systematically exploited thousands of women, trafficking their non-consensual intimate images in underground pornography rings that have evaded meaningful legal intervention. These networks, which operate across encrypted group chats and anonymous cloud storage platforms, see explicit content sorted by victim name, traded among members, and even auctioned off for profit, with participants actively encouraged to source more non-consensual material to add to the collective pools.

The images at the center of these rings are often stolen directly from victims’ personal devices or leaked without permission after being taken privately. For those targeted, the harm extends far beyond a one-time violation of privacy: multiple victims have reported sustained extortion, relentless harassment, stalking, and threats from ring members, with many telling reporters they have endured lasting psychological trauma, reputational ruin, and irreversible disruption to both their personal relationships and professional careers.

Recent legal action has already exposed systemic failures in addressing this crisis. The Humanitarian Foundation for Positive Social Change (HFPSC) brought a constitutional challenge over the ongoing existence of these rings and the lack of effective police action, and the Court of Appeal recently ruled that Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) failed to uphold its duty to protect a child pornography victim whose intimate images were widely circulated across these platforms. While the TTPS has pledged to launch a broader investigation into the phenomenon and the networks have been pushed further into the dark web, a critical gap in national legislation remains: the non-consensual sharing of adult intimate images by local abusers is not classified as a criminal offense. As a result, countless adult victims are turned away by law enforcement when they report the abuse, and are instead advised to pursue costly, slow civil claims against their abusers that few can afford.

To unpack the scope of this crisis and outline paths forward, the Sunday Express recently spoke with Clare McGlynn KC (Hon), a leading global expert on gender-based violence and legal regulation of image-based abuse and a law professor at Durham University in the United Kingdom. A highly respected voice in the field, McGlynn coined the term “image-based sexual abuse” to reframe this harm beyond a simple privacy violation, positioning it as a distinct form of sexual violence. She currently serves on the Council of Europe’s Committee on Combating Technology-Facilitated Violence against Women, the UK’s Judicial Appointments Commission, and contributed to the drafting of the UK’s landmark Online Safety Act 2023, which requires major tech platforms to implement strict protections for users, especially children, against harmful content. She has also worked with European institutions to strengthen the EU’s binding directive on gender-based violence.

In the interview, McGlynn emphasized that addressing image-based sexual abuse requires a coordinated, whole-society response that combines stronger platform regulation, meaningful legal accountability for perpetrators, and widespread public education and awareness campaigns to prevent abuse before it occurs.

When asked about the biggest barriers to legal reform, McGlynn pointed to a persistent global failure to recognize the severity of harm caused by online, technology-facilitated abuse. “Online abuse can have a devastating impact on every part of your life, from your personal life, to professional life, your economic security, and your trust in society. It ruptures your life as you knew it, with survivors often dividing their lives into before and after,” she explained, noting that policy makers still tend to prioritize physical violence over ongoing, chronic online abuse that follows victims every day.

On the question of how to persuade governments to enact stronger protections for women in contexts where the sexualization of women and girls and unregulated pornography are normalized, McGlynn argued that the core of reform must center on the principle of consent. She explained that even when a woman voluntarily chooses to take or share intimate images for a private purpose, this does not equal consent for those images to be distributed publicly or traded without her permission. She added that the hypersexualization of women and girls, amplified by mainstream pornography that frames women as constantly available for any sexual act, normalizes abuse and erodes understanding of consent, making the problem far more difficult to address.

Asked about the risk of widespread exposure to non-consensual explicit content shaping younger generations’ attitudes toward sex and women, McGlynn warned that regular exposure to image-based abuse legitimizes and normalizes non-consensual sexual violence, and that the public still vastly underestimates both the prevalence and harm of this abuse. Commenting on France’s strict age verification laws to block minor access to pornography, she noted that such measures only work if they are actively enforced, but argued that the bigger problem is the violent, misogynistic content of mainstream pornography itself. “We would not be so bothered about a young person, a 14-year-old, accessing pornography if it were not so sexually violent, misogynistic and racist. So, I think we need to focus on changing the content of mainstream porn, rather than age assurance,” she said.

With rising reports of teen suicide linked to sextortion, McGlynn called for far more open public discussion about this crisis, noting that most victims are teenage boys who often feel ashamed and alone. She urged parents to talk openly with their children, emphasizing that sextortion is never the victim’s fault, and that help is available. She also highlighted the growing risk of deepfake abuse, where perpetrators can create explicit fakes of a young person without them ever sharing an intimate image, leaving victims afraid that no one will believe the content is fabricated. Crucially, she added, even when a young person has shared a real intimate image, parents and society must avoid condemnation: many are coerced or duped by organized criminal gangs, and shame only pushes victims further into crisis.

Reflecting on the impact of this abuse on survivors, McGlynn shared the story of a young woman she has worked with closely over the past two years, identified only as Jodie to protect her privacy, who discovered that one of her closest friends had created and distributed deepfake explicit images of her. The experience was devastating, but Jodie has since become a passionate advocate for legal reform to protect other women from facing the same harm.

McGlynn explained that her own work in this field is driven by the survivors she has collaborated with, who have bravely shared their stories to demand change. She noted that younger women are disproportionately affected by online abuse, yet their voices are often ignored or dismissed in policy spaces. “I would like readers to understand that online and tech abuse is life-shattering. It is also harmful to our societies as a whole, as women remove themselves from public life due to their experiences of harassment and abuse, and fear of further abuse,” she said. McGlynn ended by emphasizing that technology itself is neutral; the root of the crisis lies in systemic gender inequality and misogyny that must be addressed head-on. “There is a lot of work ahead! But we must work every day to try to make the changes that will mean that women and girls can live their lives without the constant fear of harassment and abuse.”

A wave of frightening violent home invasions has triggered an immediate expansion of police operations across the Longdenville region and its surrounding communities, Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander has confirmed to the Senate. Over just a 48-hour window between Wednesday and Friday, local authorities received at least three formal reports of home invasions in the Longdenville community, alongside two additional matching incidents in nearby Cunupia. One documented attack, which unfolded on Raghunanan Road, left a 44-year-old Longdenville resident traumatized after three masked, armed invaders held her captive for 45 minutes, repeatedly issuing death threats during the ordeal.

During a recent sitting of the Senate, Opposition Senator Faris Al-Rawi pressed Alexander to outline what urgent interventions the government would roll out to address rising insecurity and support residents impacted by the traumatic attacks. In his response, Alexander confirmed that the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) has launched a coordinated community-centered strategy to rebuild public trust and restore a sense of safety to the area as quickly as possible.

“Given the severity of the recent home invasions and traumatic incidents in Longdenville, it is critical that law enforcement continue working hand-in-hand with local residents to rebuild trust and confidence in the shortest timeframe possible,” Alexander told the upper legislative chamber. He also revealed that he had held a closed-door meeting with Longdenville residents earlier the same day, though he declined to share sensitive details of the private discussions to protect those in attendance.

Minister Alexander also noted that Longdenville was previously shortlisted for designation under a Zone of Special Operations (ZOSO), a special security framework that enables expanded law enforcement powers. The ZOSO legislation ultimately failed to pass the Senate back in January, blocking the designation from going into effect at that time.

Despite the legislative setback, Alexander confirmed that TTPS has already ramped up operational capacity across Longdenville and adjacent high-risk areas including Enterprise. The expanded security measures include a sharp increase in standard foot patrols, mobile vehicle patrols, and intelligence-driven targeted patrols. The government has also instructed the national Gang Unit to increase its activity in the region, and is preparing to reactivate joint patrol units made up of both police and military personnel to deter criminal activity.

“These steps are designed to help Longdenville residents regain that sense of safety and security that has been disrupted by criminal elements,” Alexander said, adding that all law enforcement personnel have been explicitly directed to operate within the bounds of the law while protecting local communities. According to the minister, most local residents have expressed clear support for the government’s new security measures, with one resident telling him that locals would back any intervention that delivers tangible improvements to public safety.

Alexander also highlighted that some residents have acknowledged existing gaps in personal and property security across the community, including the common practice of leaving homes and lots unsecured — a choice that creates easy opportunities for criminal actors to target properties. In response to these gaps, TTPS officers have been instructed to host community outreach sessions to educate residents on evidence-based safety practices and provide support to help households shore up their personal security.