The UNC National Women’s Arm has condemned what it called “the disgraceful and shameful attacks” directed at Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar SC and Minister of Culture and Community Development Michelle Benjamin during Saturday’s African Emancipation Day celebrations.

In a statement on Monday, the organisation said it rejects “the disturbing pattern” where women in public life are “targeted with hostility, ridicule and intimidation simply because they choose to lead”.

It said: “Too often, women are expected to endure abuse in silence while standards of civility are discarded for political theatre.”