Information minister Senator Dana Morris Dixon on Wednesday defended the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) decision to accept Member of Parliament (MP) for Westmoreland Central George Wright back into its ranks even as she declared that the Andrew Holness Administration is committed to tackling the issue of gender-based violence.

“I know as an Administration, we have done a lot of work legislatively and otherwise, in terms of having the shelters for the women, in terms of the sexual harassment policy, and I should note that this week at Cabinet, we did approve the Sexual Harassment Tribunal. We don’t just talk about the issues; we actually endeavour to fix it. We also know that redemption is important and we have always been that kind of a country that believes in second chances,” said Morris-Dixon in response to questions at the weekly post-Cabinet media briefing on Wednesday.

“When we talk about domestic violence, it is really a very complex matter. Invariably, you have issues in relation to what persons would have experienced growing up, what they would have seen in their communities and it may seem normal to them. It is quite complex when you talk about it. In this particular case, and you would have seen the reports, too, in terms of counselling. I think that is a very important thing, in terms of the role of counselling. We know this is an issue all across our country on both sides of the political spectrum, from the rich to the poor.

“All over Jamaica, gender-based violence is a problem and it is something we need to fix. It is not necessary for us to be politicising it. It is a problem and I know for me as a woman and having discussed these matters with other women who have experienced these kinds of violence, it is something we have to address, but it is not one we address solely from the standpoint of the woman. You also have to address it from the standpoint of the males who may be involved. You have to do the counselling and you know in our country that there is a stigma around counselling and men doing counselling,” added Morris Dixon.

The Cabinet member was put on the spot as journalists sought her reaction to the reinstatement of Wright who resigned from the JLP after he was entangled in a suspected case of domestic violence in 2021.

The controversy started when a video surfaced on social media showing a man hitting woman with what appeared to be a stool. It was alleged that the people in the video were Wright and his then common-law partner Teniesha Singh. Neither has ever admitted to being the people in the video and have since married.

On Sunday, Wright was officially readmitted as a member of the JLP, having spent the past few years sitting in Parliament as an independent MP.

Close to the end of the post-Cabinet media briefing on Wednesday, Morris Dixon was asked by journalists to give her reaction to the reinstatement of Wright, since gender activists and the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) have come out criticising the move.

“You are at post-Cabinet press briefing and just to note we did not discuss that at Cabinet. Having said that, I think it is a great opportunity for us to discuss an important matter, which is gender-based violence and so, I agree that it is something we should discuss. My only disappointment is that we are discussing it within this kind of a context. It is a very big issue in our country and it permeates many different parts of society,” Morris Dixon stated.

She said many people have been accused of domestic violence in many different “parts and pockets” of Jamaica and it is something that has to be looked at and discussed.

According to Morris Dixon, redemption was an important element in addressing the problem of domestic violence and it is not right for the issue to be politicised.

She argued that there were many men in society who are good although they may have been accused of committing violence against women.

Morris Dixon, who is also the minister with responsibility for education and youth, indicated that her belief is that people accused of gender-based violence should be allowed the opportunity of redemption. She suggested that a deeper conversation needs to take place in schools to address normative behaviours and what is right from wrong.

“I think that as Christians, there is redemption for them and we believe that if they do the work, we can’t say as a society that we are going to shun them. I believe the real thing is for us to have the real conversations, acknowledging that this is an issue, and acknowledging what we need to do: Which is support the women, give them their voice, protect them as best as we can; but also, we have to talk to our men.

“We have to do it in our schools and talk about the norms. They might be seeing this at home, seeing their father do it and think it is normal. We, in our education system, have to be able to show what a healthy relationship looks like. We have to be able to show it in our universities. I went to one school that had a club for young men. That club was about teaching them how to be good men. That is the kind of conversation that we want to have because it is in fact a pervasive problem in our country,” said Morris Dixon, who scoffed at claims that she has been silent on the issue.

She pointed out that this was the first time she was being asked a question about the issue and, on being asked she did not back down as it was “something we have to tackle on multiple fronts.

“I believe that this Administration has shown that it is an Administration that very much cares about the welfare of women. It is not just talk. When you look at the legislative record of this Administration, it is clear that we are not just in the business of talking. We are in the business of finding solutions and we are very much clear that the problem has to be fixed on multiple fronts,” said Morris Dixon.