Minister with portfolio responsibility for gender affairs, Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange is urging persons who are involved in situations of conflict, to seek the necessary counselling and psycho-social support.  She made the appeal in a statement to the House of Representatives Tuesday (Jan 14) in response to the recent acts of gender-based violence since the start of the year.

“Too often, these situations result in acts of violence and

are often life-threatening and rob our families of hard-working and productive

community members,” she said.

Grange also assured the public that the government has continued to pursue legislative solutions for enhanced security measures and will intensify the “No Excuse For Abuse” public education campaign to ensure that the ‘scourge of gender-based violence is treated with the urgent attention and strong operational measures.

She noted that the police report 34 murders in the first 11 days of this year, a slight increase from the 33 recorded over the same period last year. “This includes some of our productive women and girls who are the backbone of our society,” she said. Grange said she joined all well-thinking Jamaicans to condemn and speak out against the recent brutal acts of violence against women.