RICARDO MAKYN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Joyce Hewitt, public education coordinator, Woman Inc.
THE JAMAICAN GOVERNMENT WILL be forced to build shelters for battered women in 2006, following the signing of an International Convention in December to protect women's rights.
Under Article Eight of The Convention on the Prevention of Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women (or the Convention of Belem do Para), Government will be obliged to provide these services.
Currently, there are no Government-owned shelters in Jamaica for battered women, and women's groups have consistently criticised the Government for the lack of these facilities.
Woman Incorporated (Woman Inc.), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), is the only established shelter in the island for battered women. In September, public education coordinator of that NGO, Joyce Hewett, told The Gleaner, despite promises from the Government to build shelters in every parish, none has been erected. The promise was then made under the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women and Violence Against Women (CEDAW) in 1988.
SHELTER HOUSES 11
The shelter, which is situated in Kingston, can only house 11 battered women for a temporary period. The many women who seek refuge at the shelter are from various economic backgrounds, counsellor, Loreen McFarlane told The Sunday Gleaner, but the majority are poor women from inner-city communities.
"These women are usually running from a situation of abuse, be it physical, psychological or incest/ rape," she says. The centre takes in only adult women from 18 upward, who are sometimes allowed to take their children with them.
In September, Mrs. Hewitt noted that the organisation had started an assessment to see how best to expand its services to all parishes. She said up to $112 million would have been needed to build a shelter in each parish. To date, it is not clear how much funds have been given to the organisation for expansion, but Ms. McFarlane says the Government provides funds for maintenance, but most times, those funds are not enough to carry out the organisation's functions. Currently, there is a one-day weekly session for abused women in Portmore and Spanish Town in St. Catherine.
Ambassador to the Organisation of American States, Gordon Shirley, signed the convention in December. Jamaica is the 32nd signatory to the document.
PROMOTING AWARENESS
Under the convention, Government must commit itself to promoting awareness of the right for women to be free from violence and have their rights respected and protected. It is also expected to take steps to modify cultural and social patterns of both genders to counteract prejudices, customs and other practices that influence the idea of superiority or inferiority of either of the sexes and legitimise or proliferate violence against women.
In addition, it also stipulates that the Jamaican Government must educate the public to understand the definition of violence against women as set out by the convention. The Belem do Para Convention defines violence against women as "any act or conduct based on gender, which causes death, physical, sexual, psychological harm or suffering to women, whether in the public or private spheres." This includes rape, battery, sexual abuse, torture, trafficking of people, forced prostitution and kidnapping.
Violations of the agreement by any sector will give any legally recognised NGO or group of people the right to file petitions or complaints to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. This may mean public or private employers. Schools and health facilities may be held vicariously responsible for incidents of violence against women as set out by Belem do Para, Dr. Glenda Simms has pointed out.
The commission may then make recommendations to have the victim protected. A state is not forced to comply with the recommendations of the commission, however, but this may lead the commission to publish world reports of violation of those rights.
Minister of Development Dr. Paul Robertson, under whose ministry women's affairs falls, was unavailable for comment on Government's preparedness to deal with the obligations of the convention up to press time.
Living in the grip of domestic abuse - One woman's storyFORTY-THREE-YEAR-OLD Angellahas been beaten umpteen times and raped more than once by her common-law husband.
Living in a small community in May Pen, Clarendon, with the man she has called husband for nearly 20 years, Angella has endured his drunken habits, his abuse and disrespect even as she has enjoyed his brief moments of affection.
She was raped and beaten by him during the first year of the union. He apologised profusely when he sobered up, and she forgave him.
Pregnancy was not a deterrent for a man out of control. He not only hit his woman months before delivery, but raped her as well.
"He used a knife to attack me and that night he raped me again," she said.
This time, she resisted his brutal attack for her baby's sake. She fought him, using a kitchen knife to injure him in the process. But it only made her beating worse.
DEGRADING NAMES
The abuse continued after the birth of their second child, but it became more verbal, she says. He often called her degrading names in front of the children. Names like 'squidel', which she says is another word for prostitute. After the miscarriage of their third child, she says her husband told her two boys to call her a 'destroyer', to imply she killed the baby.
Angella's abuse has been torture she says. She wants to get out of the relationship, but has nowhere else to go. She is unemployed and has trouble finding work so she stays with her husband, despite the abuse.
The only family member who knows her plight is her mother, but she is unable to assist her economically. She has not reported her abuse to the police because she is ashamed and afraid of what may happen if her husband finds out she has been talking to people about him.
She has been building a one-bedroom house in another community to move away with her children, but has stopped because money has been scarce. Angella's husband knows nothing about her plans.
News that at least one shelter is available for women in abusive relationships was a joy to Angella's ears. But would she have the emotional strength to walk away from her abuser?
"Nuh must," she said. "Mi woulda lef right now."
Name changed.
