Advocates shred Clarke’s ‘jacket’ probe law

St James Central Member of Parliament Heroy Clarke’s proposal for a law mandating paternity testing of newborns has been rubbished as simplistic and dangerous..

Making his State of the Constituency Debate address in Parliament on Tuesday, Clarke said that paternity squabbles were one of the drivers of domestic violence, which he claimed was a major contributor to the nation’s murder rate.

He also cited a domestic violence study conducted by social anthropologist Dr Herbert Gayle that concluded that paternity issues helped to spark inter-family conflict in Jamaica. Gayle has suggested that about 20 per cent are ‘jackets’ - Jamaican vernacular for children whose putative fathers are not their biological dads.

But Dr Imani Tafari-Ama, gender and development specialist, curator and author, believes that mandatory DNA testing would imperil the lives of unfaithful women.

While proposing that more counselling services be made available to couples to de-escalate conflicts, Tafari-Ama said she doubted that there was a legal solution to such complex issues.

“They are setting women up to be killed with this law if he should win with the motion,” Tafari-Ama told The Gleaner.

“The problems are deeply rooted in the plantation system that did not assure men the paternity of their children ... . We have all kinds of psychological wounds that parenting and paternity and maternity is cited that have to be considered.”

For her part, Dr Dalea Bean, lecturer at the Institute for Gender and Development Studies at The University of the West Indies, said that the roots of domestic conflicts run far deeper than merely paternity.

“I’m not sure that mandatory testing will solve gender-based violence issues or do much good for this personal relationship,” she told The Gleaner.

“If you have couples who are married and they are mandated to take a test, it may be offensive to them. If he learns at the birth that he is not the father, that’s also traumatic right at a very vulnerable time of birth.”

Bean stated that Clarke needed to offer more details on his proposal.

However, the gender and development expert suggested that DNA tests be an available and affordable option for more Jamaican men.

Such tests may cost around $30,000.

Sonia King, retired senior medical technologist and author of the book Jacket or Full Suit, a seminal piece on paternity testing, said Clarke’s motion drew her attention on Tuesday night when she first heard it.

Having worked in the field of science for more than 30 years, King suggests that paternity tests be done when a child is three months and older.

ainsworth.morris@gleanerjm.com