Trinidad and Tobago Country Program

Natural gas and oil dominate the economy and attract foreign investments. As a result, unemployment rates have plummeted. Free and high-quality education, extending through the tertiary level, has led to overall high rates of literacy. 

However, access to education remains unequal and a tendency among highly educated individuals to leave the country to pursue careers abroad has created  a "brain drain" in Trinidad and Tobago. The economy has shifted away from agriculture in recent years due to rising costs and adverse weather conditions, and toward tourism and the growing energy sector, yet over three-quarters of the population still reside in rural areas.

The political environment in this parliamentary republic remains racially polarized, due in part to a long history of slavery, colonialism, and indentured servitude. While ethnic and religious diversity among the population on these small islands has contributed to a cultural richness, it has also fueled ethnic tensions in the society. Large-scale drug trafficking is problematic in the islands, as it is in the entire Caribbean region, stemming from end-user demands in North America and Europe. 

The Caribbean islands are a major pass-through — 216 tons per year — for drugs from South America to North America and Europe, and it is estimated that drug trafficking accounts for the equivalent of more than three percent of the formal sector GDP in the region. As a result, drug use and drug-related crime persist within the region, and while the local administration seeks international assistance in reinforcing security regulations and creating specific health programs to curb drug use, the overall standard of health care remains uneven countrywide.

Government spending on health care is low compared to the health spending of other islands in the region. As a result, the public health system is in desperate need of modernization. This need is especially pressing in a country where nearly three percent of adults are infected with HIV/AIDS and treatment options lag behind neighboring countries. 

In response to the growing HIV/AIDS pandemic, the government launched a five-year strategic plan in 2004, with early results suggesting some decline in new infections. Among female adolescents, the rate of HIV/AIDS infection was five times higher than that of adolescent males in 2001. The average female adolescent will first have sex at age 15, and is more likely than her male counterpart to engage in risky sex with older partners, during which she may be unable to negotiate condom use, thereby leaving herself susceptible to the risk of infection.

Only about 33 percent of married women report the use of modern contraceptives, and the Ministry of Health has reported that the number of individuals accepting family planning has actually been decreasing in recent years. Perhaps as a result, an estimated half of all pregnancies each year are unintended. Restrictive abortion laws in the country, however, leave many women no option but to seek abortions under illegal and often unsafe conditions.

PPFA in Trinidad and Tobago

In Trinidad and Tobago, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) works with a partner organization to conduct research on and raise awareness about the harmful effects of restrictive sexual and reproductive health policies, and to advocate for policy changes that protect reproductive health and rights in the country. 

Currently, abortion in Trinidad and Tobago is legal only to save the life of a woman or to preserve the woman's mental or physical health. Yet the women's rights movement in Trinidad and Tobago is relatively well organized and vocal, and the press is quite free and active, fostering healthy democratic institutions. Therefore, the environment is ripe for significant, positive change in the area of reproductive health and rights. 

In 2001, PPFA provided seed support for the founding of the grassroots women's rights organization ASPIRE (Advocates for Safe Parenthood: Improving Reproductive Equity), which is dedicated to reducing the rates of maternal death and disability due to unsafe abortion and advocating for less restrictive abortion laws. 

ASPIRE's current project is a campaign in support of abortion law reform, which entails identifying key allies and supporting research to drive mobilization toward new legislation. Along with other like-minded organizations, the project engages in community activities, public education, mass condom distribution, media appearances, and letter-writing campaigns to parliamentarians with the hopes of raising awareness about its mission to reform.

Recently, ASPIRE commissioned a national survey on the knowledge and perception of abortion and the abortion law in Trinidad and Tobago with a highly respected research team. Results showed that 69 percent of respondents agreed that the current abortion law needs to be changed and 66 percent believed that the current law is ineffective in preventing abortions. 

ASPIRE's work in Trinidad and Tobago is leading the way in opposition to restrictive abortion laws, and in favor of greater reproductive and sexual health choices for women.