Rights boost
Case to be made for greater parental entitlements under new Constitution
Felicia Dujon
Barbados’ new Constitution should include increased rights for parents.
That is the view of human rights advocate Felicia Dujon, who said last year’s fiasco surrounding the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) survey would never have happened if parents had the necessary protection under the Constitution.
As a result, Dujon plans to start an online petition from Tuesday to engage the public and help raise awareness.
In an interview with Barbados TODAY, the lecturer in Philosophy at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, contended that parental rights were not clearly defined in the present Constitution.
She said she hoped the petition would attract at least 3000 signatures and called on persons to support the nation’s children by signing it.
Dujon said it was her intention to then submit the petition with a proposal to the Constitution Reform Commission.
She maintained that the new Constitution should have constitutional provisions on the matters of protection of parental rights, protection of freedom of conscience and protection of freedom of expression.
“We are doing this petition to have parental rights indoctrinated in the new Constitution. We are hoping that parents, persons, concerned citizens, everyone who believes in parental rights and believe that what their Government did was a breach, to sign that petition so that we can take it to the new Constitution Commission for consideration.
We also have a proposal for parental rights to be included in the Constitution,” Dujon noted.
“On October 3rd, 2022, the Ministry of Education and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) commissioned a survey to more than 700 firstform students at five secondary schools across the island. The survey was conducted without parental consent and included questions on sexuality, private and intimate information about their parents and themselves.
“We as parents and citizens of Barbados should sign this petition to require that the Government of Barbados include parental rights in the new constitution to protect the fundamental rights of parents and children in order to avoid such violations from occurring in the future,” Dujon noted.
The human rights advocate gave the assurance that they were still pushing ahead with a class action lawsuit against Government regarding the administering of the IDB test. randybennett@barbadostoday.bb
That is the view of human rights advocate Felicia Dujon, who said last year’s fiasco surrounding the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) survey would never have happened if parents had the necessary protection under the Constitution.
As a result, Dujon plans to start an online petition from Tuesday to engage the public and help raise awareness.
In an interview with Barbados TODAY, the lecturer in Philosophy at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, contended that parental rights were not clearly defined in the present Constitution.
She said she hoped the petition would attract at least 3000 signatures and called on persons to support the nation’s children by signing it.
Dujon said it was her intention to then submit the petition with a proposal to the Constitution Reform Commission.
She maintained that the new Constitution should have constitutional provisions on the matters of protection of parental rights, protection of freedom of conscience and protection of freedom of expression.
“We are doing this petition to have parental rights indoctrinated in the new Constitution. We are hoping that parents, persons, concerned citizens, everyone who believes in parental rights and believe that what their Government did was a breach, to sign that petition so that we can take it to the new Constitution Commission for consideration.
We also have a proposal for parental rights to be included in the Constitution,” Dujon noted.
“On October 3rd, 2022, the Ministry of Education and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) commissioned a survey to more than 700 firstform students at five secondary schools across the island. The survey was conducted without parental consent and included questions on sexuality, private and intimate information about their parents and themselves.
“We as parents and citizens of Barbados should sign this petition to require that the Government of Barbados include parental rights in the new constitution to protect the fundamental rights of parents and children in order to avoid such violations from occurring in the future,” Dujon noted.
The human rights advocate gave the assurance that they were still pushing ahead with a class action lawsuit against Government regarding the administering of the IDB test. randybennett@barbadostoday.bb