After a Top Model is Sent to a Mental Hospital, Vincentians Fear Politics and Patriarchy Are in Play · Global Voices
Screenshot of former Vincentian model <PERSON>, taken from a public video uploaded to Facebook, in which she refutes claims of blackmail by Prime Minister <PERSON> and his son, <PERSON>, the country's current Minister of Finance.
A young reality TV star in St. Vincent and the Grenadines has spent much of January 2018 in a mental hospital at the order of a local court. Her stay there was the result of a series of events which began with the former model allegedly calling the wife of Vincentian Finance Minister <PERSON> a “dirty bitch.”
Prosecutors are pursuing obscenity charges against 22-year-old <PERSON>, a runner-up in the 2015 season of the Caribbean's Next Top Model, who claims to have had a sexual affair with the minister. After <PERSON> pleaded innocent to the abusive language charge, the court, unconvinced by her fitness to plead, ordered her to spend two weeks in a mental hospital, undergoing a psychiatric evaluation.
On January 6, two days after the initial incident, <PERSON> posted a series of video rants on Instagram — which have since been taken down — claiming that <PERSON> had a sexual relationship with her.
To make matters more complex, <PERSON>’ father is <PERSON>, the prime minister of the island nation.
Prime Minister <PERSON> has advised his son not to comment on the matter, but the <PERSON> family is holding to their assertion that <PERSON> is mentally ill. They also claim that <PERSON> has threatened them and that the “back story” will eventually come to light.
After <PERSON> completed two weeks at the Mental Health Center of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, she reappeared in court, only to be sent back to the psychiatric institution for additional observation, as per a medical report that said she was unfit to enter a plea.
Local media outlet iWitness Network reported that the prosecution provided no evidence showing that <PERSON> was mentally incapacitated, and has suggested that “all Vincentians must be worried” by the trajectory of events.
Netizens question power imbalance between <PERSON> and <PERSON>
Online and off, the political controversy comes with the backdrop of the global #MeToo movement, the similar Caribbean regional #LifeinLeggings hashtag, and Jamaica's #TambourineArmy, whose #SayTheirNames hashtag encouraged victims of sexual abuse to break the silence by publicly outing perpetrators and demanding justice against rape.
One solidarity statement called <PERSON>'s situation a “gross human rights violation”, and condemned “the persecution and mistreatment of Ms. <PERSON> by the legal, medical, and political authorities of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”
But the St. 957
Vincent and the Grenadines Human Rights Association noted that the court has the power to make such psychiatric evaluation orders, and therefore acted within its rights.
The case lays bare inequities in reputation, gender norms, and access to justice. With the inference being that <PERSON> has much more influence in Vincentian society, netizens are discussing whether or not the political family has used its power to try and intimidate <PERSON>.
At least one opposition politician is painting the controversy as a modern-day <PERSON> vs. <PERSON> story. In an interview with iWitness, MP <PERSON> said:
This incident speaks to so many wrongs in our society […] the inability of ordinary folk to access the fairness of our judicial system, to have equal opportunity to get treatment across the board, as if for king and peasants. It demonstrates in a very clear way that those in authority feel that the laws do not apply to them and they can do as they like.
On January 17, the country's leader of the opposition called for <PERSON> to either clear the air on the matter or resign.
<PERSON>'s mother subsequently gave an interview, posted on Facebook, in which she claimed to have met with the prime minister to discuss her daughter's alleged relationship with his son. iWitness also reported that Mrs. <PERSON> served jail time after being convicted of causing the death of her son, and that both <PERSON>'s parents are currently facing charges of arson and attempted murder.
But these knotty sub-plots are not stopping social media users from speaking out in <PERSON>'s defense. In one YouTube video, <PERSON> called the situation “an abuse of political power”. 600