STRONGER RÉSUMÉ, LESS ABUSE
JULIET HOLNESS ADVISES WOMEN TO BE INDEPENDENT
THE HEARTLESS incidents of violence towards women and children that have been stifling Jamaica’s development have not gone unnoticed by Juliet Holness, wife of the country’s prime minister, Andrew Holness. She has made a passionate plea for females to become independent.
In recent weeks, the country has been grappling with a spate of heinous murders of women and young girls. And Holness described the situation as most unfortunate, but noted that everyone had a role to play in ending it.
GET OUT OF ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP
“... I want our women to become far more independent. There are those who find themselves in a position where they are abused because they are dependent and they need the man’s resources. They sometimes know that they are in a relationship with somebody that’s not quite right, and when you feel it, get out,” she advised. “If you are married or you are the spouse of someone who is not treating you well; if he is hitting you today, he’s going to hit you tomorrow and the next day, and so the first opportunity you get, get out and don’t go back. When you ‘cut’, ‘cut’ for good,” she continued.
She strongly advised women to get themselves qualified and equipped to avoid being dependent on a man for survival.
“Try to become more independent, because sometimes when you are dependent, you know that something is not quite right but you are left to work around it because you need this person to take care of you,” Holness said. “My encouragement to women is to become as independent as possible to be able to take care of yourself because once you are (independent), it makes you feel far stronger, to be able to step out and move on from anyone who is not treating you with respect and dignity. I feel that places you less at risk for being abused or killed.”
She also said her hope is for Jamaica to see zero murders.
“When I pray I don’t ask for reduced murders, I pray for zero – no murders in Jamaica,” she declared.
“When I look at crime in Jamaica, I realise that it is not a widespread issue. If you even look at the statistics, you realise that there are pockets and various issues that happen in those pockets which result in those incidents.”