Marginalisation of males cited as playing role in prevalence of crime
‘The bloodshed and the rampant abuse stems from trauma. Trauma inflicted in some of us from very early, and hurt people hurt people. Trust me, the cycle of abuse is tragic, but it can be broken.’
DR NATALIE Irving Mattocks, co-founder and executive director of Caribbean Training and Education Centre for Health (C-TECH) Caribbean, is looking forward to what upcoming studies of domestic abuse perpetrated against males in Jamaica will highlight and if they will show an increase.
In an effort to address the issue, the Caribbean Conference of Seventh-day Christians chose to single out the issue on Sunday during a prayer breakfast event, and aired its concerns regarding when the abuse is carried out by the men’s wives.
Irving Mattocks was serving as guest speaker.
The prayer breakfast was held under the theme ‘Break the Silence. Enough is Enough!’
“We spend so much time just focusing on our women, not recognising the impact on our men as well,” said Irving Mattocks, who serves professionally as a public health doctor.
“Break the silence. Enough is enough! We’re taking a stance against abuse, whether it be physical, whether it be sexual, whether it be emotional abuse,” she said.
LOW EARNERS AT RISK
She noted that one significant reason why some men become abused in marriages is because they are earning less than their wives.
“Similarly for husbands and wives, when a man or woman is not of equal status, what happens there? You find that you tend to want to feel like you have the power. You call the shots, and that’s sometimes what fosters the abuse, and then the individual who feels that they are of a lesser position usually feels like they can’t do anything about the situation and so they stay in that position for a while, and sometimes for the rest of their lives,” Irving Mattocks said.
She said that, in 2018, studies showed that approximately one in every three Jamaican women experienced abuse, but in a more recent study done by the Northern Caribbean University in 2021, it indicated that one in every four Jamaican between the ages of 18 and 30 experienced sexual assault during the COVID-19 lockdown period.
“Abuse causes people to feel powerless, voiceless, desolate, especially sexual abuse. That brings a lot of shame, and although we share the statistics, we mention mainly the statistics on women and not so much the men because those are very sparse,” Irving Mattocks said.
The public health practitioner, who said she has lived in more than 20 inner-city communities, recalled an interview a few years ago with a group of marginalised men where, of the 12 individuals, 11 were sexually abused.
DEEP-ROOTED CAUSE
This she and the Caribbean Conference of Seventh-day Christians believe is a reason for the prevalence of crime nationally.
“Look what is happening in Spanish Town. Look what is happening all over the country, but there is a cause. It’s coming from somewhere, retribution, taking up justice into their own hands. Those killers. It’s coming from somewhere deep rooted that you can’t see,” the woman, who was herself abused and thrown out by her father, she said.
“The bloodshed and the rampant abuse stems f rom trauma. Trauma inflicted in some of us from very early, and hurt people hurt people. Trust me, the cycle of abuse is tragic, but it can be broken,” she said.
In closing, Irving Mattocks had one piece of advice for persons who still find it difficult to forgive their abusers.
“Research has actually shown that ‘unforgiveness’ can lead to chronic illnesses and, as a public health person, I’m telling you that sometimes you thing it’s sick you sick but it’s ‘unforgiveness’ that is festering inside of you. That’s destroying you, and so that’s the first step that you have to take to get your healing,” she said.
Irving Mattocks has a passion for service in youth empowerment, business development, building healthy marriages and strong families, and was a recipient of the Governor General’s Achievement Award in 2021.
She is also a member of the New Foundation Christian Ministries where she serves as director for training, counselling and health and also the co-host for the podcast, B1 Marriage Ministry.
C-TECH is a regional organisation that has, for the past 17 years, supported countries in addressing the health of their workforce and health system challenges.