Second national shelter for abused women to open soon

The second of three national shelters being established by the Government to accommodate women who are victims of abuse, and their children, will be opened shortly.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Denzil Thorpe, made the disclosure while addressing the church service to recognise the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (IDEVAW), held under the local theme ‘Safer Spaces for Women and Girls’, at the Constant Spring Road Church of God, St Andrew, on Sunday.

“We are currently working on shelter two, which should be opened soon; and shelter three, which will be coming, hopefully, in the new year,” he said. The first shelter was opened in 2020.

Thorpe, who represented portfolio minister Olivia Grange at the church service, noted that the establishment of the shelters is in keeping with the national strategic action plan to eliminate gender-based violence (GBV) in Jamaica.

He said that the second strategic priority of the plan requires that the Government “provide the necessary protections, including safer spaces for women and girls”.

ZERO-TOLERANCE APPROACH

He noted that the Government has taken a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of gender-based violence and is committed to implementing policies, programmes, and projects in this regard.

He said further that “through our robust, comprehensive islandwide public education programme, we reinforce the strong message of ‘no excuse for abuse’.”

Thorpe said that everyone has the fundamental right to be free from violence, arguing that the true measure of any society is how it treats its most vulnerable citizens, including women, men, children, the elderly and the disabled.

He appealed for faith-based organisations to partner with the ministry “to challenge and to radically transform the culture of normalising violence”.

“This, we believe, is of critical importance if we are serious about creating safer spaces for all women and girls,” Thorpe said.

The observance of IDEVAW on Thursday, November 25, will mark the launch of the ‘UNiTE to End Violence against Women’ campaign, which is 16 days of activism and concluding on International Human Rights Day on December 10.proach to all forms of GBV.

On December 1, there will be a national training workshop for first-lev

Thorpe said that during the period, the ministry will engage key stakeholders and multiple segments of the public in a series of activities.

Hedisclosed that the IDEVAW statement will be read in Parliament, and senators and parliamentarians will be pinned with purple ribbons to symbolise a zero-tolerance apel responders to GBV. The participants will include domestic violence officers, guidance counsellors, district constables and pastors.

On Human Rights Day, there will be a national empowerment programme with students in the Gender Ambassador Programme at The Knutsford Court Hotel, New Kingston, beginning at 10 a.m.