A six-minute video clip posted on facebook last Sunday showing a mother of four from Point Fortin, Trinidad and Tobago, Helen Bartlett whipping her 12-year-old daughter with a belt for sharing sexually explicit photos of herself on Facebook has gone viral and has been shared more than 43,000 online.
The clip has gone viral on social media and sparked a public debate about corporal punishment
The unsettling clip has left viewers divided, with some people justifying the mother’s actions, while others calling it child abuse. In response, Bartlett’s daughter and her older sister uploaded another video expressing support for their mother. The two girls said Bartlett was a good mother who wanted to protect her child from teenage pregnancy, or worse.
When the single mother was interviewed by a local radio station earlier this week, she declared she was ‘prepared to go to jail’ to set her wayward young daughter on the right path. When asked if she regretted her actions, Ms Bartlett, who has three girls and a boy, said she stood by her mode of discipline, but she was sorry that the video intended to shame her 12-year-old has gained such notoriety.
The six-minute clip shows the mother whipping the girl with a belt as she whimpers in pain
The mother stated that she decided to teach her daughter a lesson so that one day she wouldn’t come home pregnant or end up dead
When the single mother was interviewed by a local radio station earlier this week, she declared she was ‘prepared to go to jail’ to set her wayward young daughter on the right path. When asked if she regretted her actions, Ms Bartlett, who has three girls and a boy, said she stood by her mode of discipline, but she was sorry that the video intended to shame her 12-year-old has gained such notoriety.