Violence against women is an ongoing public concern

PRESIDENT of the Caribbean Bar Association Inc in New Jersey, Yvette Sterling, has called for more focus to be placed on gender-based violence, given the fact that the crime rate in Jamaica against women and girls, not including murders, is nearly twice as much as against males.

“Violence against young women and girls, whether forced trafficking, labour, incest, or rape, has a profound, long-lasting effect on all aspects of the victims’ lives; including their future maternal, physical and psychological health, educational opportunities and economic stability,” she said.

She noted that it is imperative that polices be adopted “to investigate, prosecute, and punish, with due diligence, such acts in a solemn attempt to stymie the perpetuation of this viciousness which permeates all facets of a human being based solely on their gender”.

Sterling was speaking against the backdrop of International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which was observed last week Monday. November 25 to December 10 is also commemorated as the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence.

Executive Director of the Bureau of Women’s Affairs Faith Webster noted that both events are intended to facilitate the recognition of violence against women as an ongoing public concern.

“Let us as a nation challenge all harmful practices that incite violence and strengthen those practices which will enhance a peaceful and productive society. Let us strive to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls and simultaneously ensure increased involvement of men and boys in the ongoing struggle towards ending violence against women and girls,” she said.

Director for the Institute of Gender and Development Studies at the University of the West Indies Professor Verene Shepherd argued that violence against women and girls is a legacy of colonialism which, despite 51 years of independence, is still pervasive.

“The inadequacy of response of the legal system, the persistence of stereotypes that devalue women, insufficient training of criminal justice personnel, and the lack of enforcement measures designed to combat violence against women have all coalesced to a de facto culture of impunity,” she asserted.

“But what, perhaps, is not understood is that violence against women is of particular significance, not only because it jeopardises women’s well-being but because — in compromising women’s access to justice as full citizens — it jeopardises the very well-being of the societies in which women live,” she said.