Surveys finds some women OK with beatings from spouse if children mistreated

Based on the fact that one in every four Jamaican women have experienced intimate partner physical violence, it is no surprised that the majority would be firmly against it. However, there is a notable percentage of Jamaican women who believe there are justifiable reasons for a man to beat his wife. The data contained in the 2016 Women's Health Survey, which was released last year, targeted women between 15 and 64 years old.

Of those surveyed, 64.7 per cent were educated up to the secondary level and 56.8 per cent were in wage employment or self-employment. The survey also noted that almost two-thirds, or 64.7 per cent of the women were in a relationship with a male partner.

The women who were questioned to get their perceptions on whether or not it is justified for a husband to hit his wife were given different scenarios to choose from.

Approximately 10.0 per cent of the women surveyed agreed that it was justified for a man to beat his wife for at least one of the reasons they had suggested.

Nine per cent of the women agreed that it was justified for a husband to hit his wife if she neglects their children.

Advocacy specialist Linnette Vassell, who was also a technical committee member on the research project, said it must be stressed that it is only a minority of women who feel that way.

“The vast majority of women reject the idea that women should be beaten or that violence should be perpetrated under any circumstances at all. That is the case with 95 per cent.

"I think it is because women as caregivers themselves are very sensitive to the care of children and so they feel that if a woman brutalises or neglects a child it is a violation. It is a very serious violation, and so in a context where the vast majority rejects it, the minority who feel that it can be justified feel that it is the one thing that should be justified,” said Vassell.

The survey further revealed that 16.9 per cent of adolescent girls in the 15 to 19 age group agreed that it was justified for a husband to hit his wife if she neglects the children. Women 20 to 29 years old were more likely to consider this justified than women over 30 years old.

“I think it’s linked to the fact of how children are regarded, the vulnerability of children and the role of women as caregivers and the fact that although men don’t do active caregiving, they believe that the mother of their child should not brutalise the child. The word 'neglect' is very loaded. 'Neglect' also assumes that the woman is careless with the child,” said Vassell.

Also revealed in the survey was that women who were currently married were least likely to believe that intimate partner violence was ever justified. Women who had never been in an intimate relationship with a man were three times as likely as married women to think that there were conditions under which intimate partner violence was justifiable.

Pointing to employment status, the women who were unemployed, outside of the labour force, and women working in homes or as an unpaid family worker, agreed that intimate partner violence was justified under some circumstances. This finding has led the study to suggest that economic vulnerability influences how women view intimate partner violence, as women who were able to support themselves with income from their own work were least likely to consider violence against women by male partners as justified.

... 'No reason for adults to beat adults'

The Reverend Astor Carlyle, head of the Webster Memorial United Church, said that, in his personal opinion, whether suggested or not, there is no circumstances that could justify a man beating a woman.

“There is no reason for any adult to inflict beating upon another adult. There is no reason for a man to beat a woman. There is no reason for a woman to think it is OK for a man to hit her. It is just not right. We have to find more amicable ways of solving our disagreements,” said Carlyle.

He added that if a man thinks the woman is careless with his children, there are other alternatives to fix the issue as beating cannot be the solution.

Carlyle also said he age group which is of this opinion speaks to how some women think and relate to each other and themselves.

“We need to engage in some retraining of the minds of women because this speaks to a lack of self-love. I mean, I don’t even know why you would believe that getting a beating from your partner says that he loves you. I can’t understand it,” said Carlyle. carlene.davis@gleanerjm.com