Severed staff at the island’s lone shelter for battered and abused women are claiming that the facility’s security has been compromised, leaving clients vulnerable to attack.
They told the WEEKEND NATION there have been days when there was no staff at the facility, forcing women housed there temporarily to leave a door ajar so they could enter and exit since they don’t have access to keys or the security code assigned to staff.
However, Marrianne Burnham, president of the Business and Professional Women’s Club, which operates the shelter, denied there were any lapses in security. She declined to answer questions about the charges of the staff, noting that because of the nature of the services provided at the facility she was not in a position to share any information.
However, former workers at the facility complained that while they were not happy with the manner of their termination and had taken up the matter with the Barbados Workers’ Union, which had raised the issue with the Labour Department, their bigger concern was the safety of their former charges.
