KINGSTON, Jamaica — Victims of crime are being encouraged to contact the Victim Services Division (VSD) of the Ministry of Justice to access counselling support.

The VSD works to provide Jamaicans with access to counselling services, to help victims cope with the effects of crime and violence.    

Director of the VSD, Osbourne Bailey, said despite the pandemic, there are elements of the criminal justice process that require the intervention of the division.       

“Persons are still being made victims of crime and require support, and the relevance of the VSD cannot be more emphasised at a time like this,” he noted.

“So, we encourage persons, if you are a victim of a crime, report it to the police, and ensure that if you report it to the police, they refer you to the Victim Services Division,” Bailey said.                                             

He told JIS News that individuals can report incidents directly to the VSD as well.       

“If for whatever reason you don’t report it to the police, the numbers to contact the VSD are 876-946-0663 or call 888-VICTIMS (842-8467),” Bailey pointed out.    

Meanwhile, the VSD has restricted the group approach to therapy, in keeping with the limitation placed on the number of persons that can gather in a space.                                   

“The Special Intervention Programme for Schools (SIPS) and the Overcomers in Action Initiative have had to be put on hold, especially since schools are mostly out and students are learning from home. We still have the West Kingston Satellite Special Progamme that is operating. The cultural Resocialisation Programme is designed to take a group of children in a green area with a number of psychologists and work through some of their issues in group therapy, but we’ve also put that on hold because of the restriction,” Bailey said.

The VSD has also worked to modify some programmes, like the Children in Court Programme, and Bailey said some staff members still go to court with children.

“But of course, when staff members do go in, it’s in a much more controlled context. We also still do the Orientation and Readiness Programme for children who have to go to court, because that can actually be done through our E-Counselling option,” he said.

“So, it’s about learning to function, given COVID-19 realities; less group operations, operating with the safety protocols and just being as safe as we possibly can. We cannot overemphasise the importance of hand sanitising, doing as much social distancing as possible and educating persons to be conscious that the pandemic is still around,” Bailey added.