Stop victim-blaming women for crimes of passion – Grant
Published:Tuesday | January 14, 2020 | 12:00 AMJanet Silvera/Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
The killing of two Jamaican women by enraged lovers less than 24 hours apart has been blamed on generational brainwashing of the country’s boys into thinking they are superior, while girls are socialised as submissive.
That’s the call of Novelette Grant, a former deputy commissioner of police, who says that the intergenerational cycles are causing countless women to suffer physical and psychological torture – and sometimes death.
“We are raising our men to be hardcore, macho and lacking in empathy, not to experience any tender emotions. These are the kind of messages we are pushing,” Grant argued, adding that society gives male egoism a pass.
According to her, societal miseducation has resulted in feelings of confusion and anger, essentially making men lonely and unable to communicate effectively.
“How we jeer and mock little boys for not being tough enough is pushing them into a position of being cruel,” she said.
UNREASONABLE PRESSURE
Forcing boys to believe that they should always be in charge imposes unreasonable pressure, Grant posited.
“Who are we raising? We cannot tell part of the population not to cry, and expect them to end up like Gandhi,” she said, referring to the late Indian social activist renowned for non-violent protest.
Jamaica Defence Force Corporal Doran McKenzie chopped and shot his live-in partner Suianne Easy to death on Sunday morning at their Portmore, St Catherine, home before killing himself.
Hours later, Nevia Sinclair was slain in a knife attack in Brinkley district, St Elizabeth. The suspect, an estranged boyfriend, is in police custody.
Meanwhile, Grant called for Jamaicans to stop victim-blaming women when men cite infidelity or other reasons as the trigger for brutal attacks.
“Abusers manipulate victims into this behaviour, maim them, and have them living under duress. When it becomes urgent to society is when death occurs,” Grant said, emphasising that greater focus be placed on public education and intervention.