Citizens mobilise in "Reclaim Our Streets" marches against gender-based violence

In the last several months, protests have taken place in Barbados over pressing social and economic issues. The civic movement - Life in Leggings: Caribbean Alliance against Gender Based Violence - mobilised demonstrators in a number of Caribbean island countries to demand an end to harassment and all forms of violence against women. The "Reclaim Our Streets" marches took place throughout March and April 2017, gathering several hundred participants at a time. 

Organised by the Opposition Barbados Labour Party, the "March of Disgust" on 11th March 2017 drew approximately 10,000 people to the streets and rallied speakers who called on the government address the decline in citizens' standard of living. 

In early April, the "March for Respect", organised by the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union, gathered hundreds of teachers in solidarity against the Ministry of Education that had instituted measures further disadvantaging overworked and underpaid teachers.

The Barbados Road Safety Association began a series of actions, starting 15th March 2017, calling for greater road safety as the number of deaths and accidents has caused serious alarm. 

The marches and protests described above were legally organised and faced no challenges or disruptions from the authorities. Protesters were guided by a small police presence, and there were no reports of arrests or prevention of protests.