On Sint Maarten, youth are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of their participation and engagement in policy and programs that affect them. Their perspective on topics such as mental health, youth violence, gender-based violence, discrimination of sexual preference, abuse, and neglect can be of indispensable value. Let’s create sustainable and safe spaces for youth to be continuously involved.
Head of the Department of Youth
Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport (MECYS)
The importance of meaningful youth participation on St. Maarten is gaining more recognition as Government Ministries and youth stakeholders are increasingly displaying a more structured approach to consulting with youth when developing policy and programs. Youth are also being made more aware of the importance of their participation and engagement in these processes. Activities that involve youth development are also coming to the fore with the goal of enhancing their skills which enable them to collaborate and eventually take the lead in community initiatives or start their own projects and programs as they see fit.
However, where child protection and youth involvement are concerned, much work is still required and breaking social and cultural barriers is paramount. On our island, more attention from adults should be placed on topics such as youth-on-youth violence, gender-based violence, sexual orientation discrimination, abuse, and neglect. This can stimulate the youth to speak out, share their stories and their opinions.
Culturally, children who have been part of the child protection system are not generally empowered to share their experiences and turn their adversity into a positive experience for themselves and others through support group mechanisms that raise awareness on matters that concern them. Furthermore, talking about personal adverse situations stemming from the home environment is stifled due to fear of judgement and shame. Their trust is sometimes broken by the very professionals who were meant to offer protection and a safe environment in the first place.
Encouraging youth to overcome adverse situations and trauma and become “experience experts” can be both rewarding and empowering. It is important to understand however, that having experience in situations does not make one an expert. Becoming an expert calls for the youth in adverse situations to first heal, then amass knowledge of the subject and the system in which they were placed as a protective measure. The National Child Protection Platform will provide the opportunity for youth, including such so-called ‘experience experts’ to be involved in the development of child protection initiatives through the Youth Sounding Board.
Preparing youth to become the experts that are needed to engage other youth in similar situations requires not only that the community embrace such initiatives but more importantly, this calls for the involvement of professionals to promote participation of vulnerable groups by facilitating the recruitment of youth, offering guidance and education on various topics, communicating with the youth, informing them of the latest updates and planning activities, and creating opportunities for them to offer their advice and peer support, thereby creating enthusiasm for others to join.
Lastly, to support such initiatives, collaborations from a governmental level between the Ministries of Justice, Public Health, Social Development and Labor and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth & Sport are key to create sustainable and safe spaces for youth to be continuously involved.
Dr. Henry Charles has been advocating for meaningful youth participation for over forty years. According to him, young people are an asset and should be treated as co-creators in our developmental processes.
Angelica Sookdanan and James Brooks help to shape the future Youth Sounding Board. They shifted from hesitation to enthusiasm about the project. “As youth, we can help update policies so that they are more effective.”
How do you ensure that young people really have an influence on policy? The Flower of Participation gives insight.
Rahul Sharma (23) recently finalised his Master's in Media and Creative Industries at Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Rahul chose to focus his thesis on Ballroom representation in the media after realising that "very little research is being done on the LGBTQ+ community.”
“Stop acting like a girl, don’t be a faggot, just be a man!”, were some of the phrases I remember hearing growing up on Sint Maarten. Growing up on the island, my peers and the adults around me talked about queer people in a negative way. Not just hurtful words, but violent actions were also used against people who were open about being part of the LGBTQ+ community.
I think this led me, unconsciously at first, to hide my feminine side. I was 'straight' all through high school. At a younger age, I didn't think too deeply about my sexuality, and once I knew that I was queer, I pretended to be straight, or at least pass as straight. To avoid being bullied or treated differently, I would try to fit in, such as with my hyper-masculine male classmates.
It was only during my senior year, when I made a queer friend, that I felt I had someone to talk to about my sexuality. I love my family but sharing your thoughts with people you think might not understand you is hard. Very recently I spoke to my mom about this. She tries to understand and be respectful. I try to help her understand queer culture and history by sending her documentaries or articles to read.
Now that I have moved abroad to study in the Netherlands, I can meet more people from the LGBTQ+ community and explore who I am. I’m not saying that the Netherlands is perfect in its inclusivity. I still wear my jacket travelling in certain areas when I am dressed differently than others, to be seen as ‘acceptable for a man’. But there are many more activities and venues catering to people of all spectrums of gender and sexual orientation. For example, the Ballroom community has helped me express myself creatively.
On Sint Maarten, we do not have such activities, and persons of the LGBTQ+ community have to figure out where it is ‘safe’ to go out, have fun, and be able to show affection in public. Because of this, I think it’s hard for young people to explore their sexuality and relationships safely.
The only place I could do this when I was younger was through apps such as Grindr and Snapchat. Due to the secret nature of these apps and the ‘down-low’ interactions, it tends to focus more on sex than actually learning how to have a healthy romantic relationship. In addition, it can lead to unsafe situations such as anonymously meeting someone in private for the first time, instead of in public as one should.
Education and wider communication on the island are based on the premise that heterosexuality is the only normal and natural expression of love and sexuality. It can be pretty lonely for young people who feel that they have no one to talk to.
To help young people safely express themselves and their sexuality, we can start by making our education system more inclusive. For example, when schools roll out curriculum about sexual health; same-sex interactions, protective measures, and LGBTQ+ relationships should be part of this.
Every person should have the right to be who they are and feel safe doing so. I would consider moving back to Sint Maarten and contributing to my community, but not at the cost of being a ‘fake’ version of myself. I deserve to be my most authentic self.
Rahul goes by Pretty Boi 007 in the Ballroom Scene and hopes to inspire other young queer people, especially from the island, who struggle with their identities.
IG: @prettyboirahul
‘MY Participation Matters’ was the theme of the Sint Maarten Youth Roundtable Conference. The event was very inspiring to all participating young people.
Alex, a child with disabilities, was sexually abused at school twice. Neither the school nor police intervened. Her parents are warning professionals working with differently-abled children to always be mindful.
How can you engage young people more meaningfully in your work? Lenworth Wilson, who has been working in youth development on Sint Maarten for over fifteen years, shares his insights.
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In May 2019, UNICEF the Netherlands and Augeo Foundation together did an analysis on child abuse and neglect on Sint Maarten. Thirty professionals working in the field of Child Protection were interviewed. Based on the outcome of the dialogues with these professionals, UNICEF the Netherlands, Augeo Foundation and the Child Protection Working Group decided to publish a magazine to share knowledge, experiences and best practices among professionals working with children and the general public. This magazine is produced in collaboration with the Government of Sint Maarten, financed by the Government of the Netherlands, through the Sint Maarten Trust Fund, as part of the Child Resilience and Protection Project (CRPP).
Augeo Foundation believes that children should grow up safely and with love. That is why we work together with professionals, policymakers and volunteers to tackle child abuse and domestic violence as quickly and effectively as possible. If more people see what they can do for a child, we can make a difference for a child’s future. With online training, an online magazine and experiences from the Youth Taskforce we empower professionals. We organize support for children and together with municipalities, we conduct research into tackling child abuse in the Netherlands. Augeo Foundation is a non-profit foundation based in the Netherlands that is funded by donations from family assets. We use this independent position to actively implement pioneering improvements and address bottlenecks.
UNICEF the Netherlands supports the government of Sint Maarten in the aspiration to improve the recognition and reporting of child abuse and neglect (CAN), as hurricanes Irma and Maria (2017) exacerbated the pre-existing challenges. UNICEF the Netherlands’ Child Resilience and Protection Project in Sint Maarten is funded by the Sint Maarten Resilience and Rebuilding Trust Fund, managed by the World Bank. UNICEF the Netherlands engages in a partnership with Augeo Foundation. Augeo Foundation offers technical support.