The End of Innocence... (Broadcasting Sexually)

Ian Alleyne runs a video of an underaged, allegedly mentally disabled girl being raped on his evening show and is able to repeat it for days with nary a word from the producers, the station's management or the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad & Tobago. Popular soca artiste Shurwayne Winchester is allowed to glorify and promote human trafficking and sexual slavery to sell a song and the stations run it without consulting the Broadcast Code and again, total silence from the Telecommunication Authority, begging the question as to their relevance. Is anyone over there even paying attention to what is being broadcast over the nation's airwaves? Who has authority and enforcement responsibility for these serious transgressions and where is that person at present? In the midst of a sexual identity crisis where children are killing themselves in confusion over who they are or where they're going and teachers 'sexting' their students naked pictures of themselves, now is not the time for those charged with overseeing what our children are exposed to as entertainment to abdicate their responsibility. We the people need to insist (at the very least) that senior management at the Authority be fired, that the licenses of the offending stations be suspended, and that the offensive material be removed from the air permanently.

The matter concerning Alleyne's 'rape for ratings' broadcast has already incensed a sufficient enough amount of right thinking people who are already calling on the powers that be to stop pussy footing with the issue and take serious action. In response, Mr. Alleyne has allegedly threatened to 'go after' his detractors for having the audacity to question him and I would like to ask if this is not a case of the tail wagging the dog? Is Mr. Alleyne not aware that the airwaves his show is broadcast on are in fact public property, to which the people have an inalienable right to question to what use they are put?

The Broadcast Code clearly states among its guidelines:

- “To ensure that children are neither harmed nor misled by the transmission of inappropriate and/or inaccurate material.
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- “Broadcasters shall use appropriate scheduling to protect children from unsuitable material.”

- “Programmes which portray children in a sexual fashion are not acceptable, except where justified in the context of a dramatic or information programme dealing with the specific issue of sexuality, in which case the portrayal must be as limited as possible within the context of the particular programme and must in any event be inexplicit.
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- “Broadcasters shall ensure that programmes that take incest or child abuse as their topic or themes shall provide suitable warnings prior to airing and shall be appropriately scheduled.”

- “Representations of sexual intercourse must not be broadcast unless there is a serious educational purpose. Any discussion or portrayal of sexual behaviour broadcast must be appropriately limited and inexplicit.
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- “In reporting certain kinds of crime, such as sexual assaults or incidents involving children, the time of transmission and the need for protection of the children involved must be taken into account and the degree of explicit detail matched to the probable presence of children listening or viewing. Steps should be taken to minimize psychological trauma to children.”

The silence of the the Ministry of the People, the Ministry of Social Development and the Ministry of Gender Affairs as well as the major women and children's groups and even the Children's Authority on these gross violations is very instructive, and their failure to raise an alarm brings their collective value to society into question. We cannot say we are 'for' or 'against' a thing and when presented with that same thing stand mute or dumbstruck.

Much of what is being passed off as culture and entertainment is in fact the prostituting of our women and children for profit. We need a return to decency in public life in how we interact, in what we say and in what we do if we are to turn this situation around. Things are getting very dark now, and if a society is only as strong as the social contract which binds it, then the disturbing symptoms of the greater societal problems manifesting themselves at present suggests that we need to revisit that document and decide where we as a people want to go from here. Before it gets later still.