Violence against Women and Girls in the Caribbean: An Intervention and Lessons Learned from Jamaica

Abstract

Introduction Violence against women and girls is a global problem that has existed throughout history and takes many forms in different regions and countries. The United Nations Population Fund reports that about 80% of women globally have experienced some form of violence at some point in their lives but the majority of cases occur in the developing countries where 60% of women have been abused, some of them to the extent of acquiring long-term disability or death (UNFPA, 2002). We have heard of the Indian Sautee, female genital mutilation in many African and Arabic countries, wife battering and other forms of spousal abuse, sexual violation of women regardless of age, forced or arranged marriages and female infanticide or abortion of female foetuses. These atrocities are just a few of all the examples of violence directed at women across the globe. Human trafficking, where women and girls are sold for sexual purposes across geographical boundaries, adds to the unending list and has become the focus of the international community. Crime and violence is one of the major problems facing the Caribbean region today, affecting men, women and children. This adds to other development-related problems and natural disasters that affect livelihood in the region. Women, however, face a double jeopardy since they are not only targets of the general violence that affect everyone else, but also face gender-based violence which mainly targets women, in most cases in their own homes. It is not only a social issue but is also a health, economic, political, and human rights issue that needs to be addressed from these perspectives. This problem has attracted local and international communities that attempt to intervene in a variety of ways. This paper describes the interagency campaign implemented in 1998 that specifically addressed violence against women and girls, documenting the lessons learnt and key findings of the intervention as well as some implications. The terms 'violence against women (and girls)' and 'gender-based violence' are used synonymously in this paper as in many writings on gender issues. We define gender-based violence as violence based on one's gender, which is characterised by imbalanced gender relations. Gender is a social construct ascribing feminine or masculine identity and roles to biologically determined female and male persons (Kesselman et al, 1999; Young in Mohammad and Shepherd, 1999). The power imbalance in gender relations is most evident where men and boys are attributed socially higher value than women and girls. Gender-based violence appears mostly as violence against women and girls perpetuated by men and boys, where the aggressor is often motivated by gender considerations such as the need to reinforce male power and privilege (Rico, 1997:8). The first section of the paper addresses the theoretical perspectives positing an explanation for the occurrence of gender-based violence. The next section describes the extent of the gender-based violence problem in the Jamaican context through an overview of some cases of violence against women and girls that received media attention. The main body of the paper focuses on the campaign, describing the methods used to gather information as well as the campaign process and challenges. It concludes with the lessons learned and key findings from which future interventions might benefit. Theoretical Framework Research has attempted to define and examine the root causes of various forms of violence from a variety of perspectives. Albert Bandura's (1986) social learning theory (SLT) is one of the most appropriate for this study, in terms of explaining the existing violence against women in Jamaica and in predicting possible solutions to the problem. The theory pays special attention to social and environmental factors as key determinants of violence and explains human behavior in terms of a three-way, dynamic, reciprocal theory in which personal factors, environmental influences, and behaviour continually interact. …