Justice delayed, denied for victims of domestic-violence

THE EDITOR, Madam:

WE ARE lucky Fay Brown* is still alive. A police officer refused to take a statement from a visibly bruised Brown – a victim of intimate-partner violence – and sent her back home. That incident could have turned out differently.

We know of cases where women have been killed by angry partners who get even more violent when the woman tries to defend herself, report the abuse, or leave.

Even though the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has now clearly stated that citizens can make reports to the police at any time regardless of curfews, the incident indicates a lack of awareness by an officer of the legal framework for reporting a complaint to a police station, which the abused person, in her right, attempted to do.

A deeper problem lurks in the incident. It highlights with stark clarity the failure of the Jamaican State to properly address the issue of domestic violence over the years. Domestic violence is a deep societal problem that includes spousal abuse, intimate-partner violence, child abuse and elder abuse. It’s not just a women’s issue. It damages women, men, children and families across all social classes, urban and rural. It can turn homes, communities and workplaces into dangerous and unsafe spaces.

TOO MANY BARRIERS

It is disheartening that an officer at a police station equipped with a specialised Domestic Violence Mediation Unit could show such limited awareness of the right of an endangered citizen to report a crime, and of the Domestic Violence Act.

According to Jamaica’s 2016 Women’s Health Survey, 27.8 per cent of women are affected by situations similar to this one. That’s more than one in four women.

Yet many of these cases go unreported and unaddressed because of the many barriers that these women face when they try to get help. These barriers include systemic legal challenges, inaction by first responders, or not having a safe place to go to escape the abuse. These factors contribute to the low rates of arrest or prosecution of abusers even where there is substantial physical injury.

We, therefore, call on the Government to:

• Address the inadequacies in the segmented legal approach to domestic violence and ensure an approach that caters swiftly to the needs of victims.

• Operationalise promised shelters as a matter of urgency.

• Run a media campaign to showcase the rights of the citizens in reporting offences, and how the police should treat citizens in times of emergency, given that the police have a duty to assist the process towards justice at all times.

• Implement mandatory signs in police guardrooms that clearly state the basic rights of citizens.

• Provide ongoing training and sensitisation for the police force as it relates to rights of the citizen, including the provisions of the Domestic Violence Act. We all have to work as a team – NGOs, government, community-based organisations, the police, Church, schools and the private sector – if we want to reduce the level of domestic abuse in Jamaica and avoid an even more sobering repeat of this grievous incident of justice delayed, and ultimately denied. Especially at this time when many persons are trapped at home with their abusers.

* Name changed to protect identity Gender advocates, Women’s Media Watch (WMW) Jamaica