Street theatre to end violence against women, children

NO strangers to street theatre, members of SISTREN Theatre Collective have embarked on yet another initiative to educate the public on issues that affect women and children.

The group’s latest initiative is the ‘Talk yuh talk’ sensitisation project, which sees members going into select inner-city communities to educate residents on the impact of violence against children. Instead of just talking about the issues, the group acts out the situation on a designated street corner then engages the community in a rap session after.

“We wanted to have conversations, because these are serious issues,” said moderator for the sessions and male development specialist Marlon Moore.

The project is organised in association with the Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP). The latest street theatre session was done last Friday at Cuba Square in Waterhouse, Kingston, and saw scores of residents in attendance. Prior to this, the group had visited Headley Avenue in Drews Land, and plans are being finalised to have a session in Tower Hill, St Andrew.

“It is usually very interactive, because we have the people question the characters in their individual roles,” said Moore, who pointed out that music is usually played prior to the sessions.

Moore said they currently have a one-year contract with CSJP that specifically targets violence. As such, they have a life skills building programme with children from ages 10 to 16 in Tower Hill, Drews Land and Waterhouse. They also have a school-based life skills programme targeted toward 20 boys in grade three at the Drews Avenue Primary School. There is also a parenting component where they are looking at issues of parenting, disciplining children and the different parenting styles.

“So that whole concept or that whole approach is based on looking at things that can help to reduce violence,” he said.

Jointly funded by the Government of Jamaica and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), CSJP was established to reduce and prevent the incidence of crime and violence through social intervention initiatives and programmes to improve the delivery of judicial services and strengthen crime management capabilities.

— Nadine Wilson