Stronger Together helps women, girls and families confront abuse
Published:Saturday | June 18, 2022 | 12:08 AMKeisha Hill/Senior Gleaner Writer
The United States Embassy in Kingston has thrown its support behind a local initiative to raise awareness and provide counselling intervention for persons impacted by gender-based violence (GBV) in Jamaica. The US Embassy, Kingston provided grant funding for a three-part webinar series dubbed ‘Inform to Empower: Tackling Gender-based Violence, the Ongoing Pandemic’.
The series was produced by Stronger Together, a knowledge-sharing platform founded by communications specialists Stacy-Ann Smith, chief executive officer of Danrak Productions, and Michelle-Ann Letman, chief executive officer at PR Belle Media.
It is primarily focused on issues confronting women, girls and families, and is intended to provide a space to share information, resources, and inspiration as well as to stimulate progressive and out-of-the-box thinking.
More than one in every four women in Jamaica has experienced intimate partner physical and sexual violence in their lifetime. The first comprehensive Jamaica national survey on GBV revealed a prevalence of 27.8 per cent of women affected. Additionally, one of every four women or 25.2 per cent has experienced physical violence alone at the hands of a male partner.
Global estimates show that one in three women worldwide experiences either physical and or sexual violence, mostly by an intimate partner at some point in their lives.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, emerging data indicates that the incidence of violence against women and girls, particularly domestic and intimate partner violence, may be increasing due to the confinement of persons spending more time indoors. Referring to GBV as the shadow pandemic, the United Nations (UN) has reported that all types of violence against women and girls, particularly domestic violence, has intensified globally.
Smith said there is nothing like being able to make a meaningful contribution to a person’s life, especially when they have faced trauma associated with GBV.
THE REAL WORK
“In addition to raising awareness, gaining insight and providing thought-provoking content, we had the opportunity to meet GBV victims where they most needed us. People often underestimate the value of therapy when you have been exposed to violence and abuse,” she said. “We have enough data to know that simply leaving an abusive situation physically is only the first step. The real work begins with counselling to heal and take back your power, and we could not be happier to have helped GBV victims on that journey.”
Beyond the webinars, the initiative will be providing tangible support to persons affected by GBV. Woman Inc draws upon the creative energies of women from all walks of life who are dedicated to providing assistance to victims of rape, incest, domestic crisis, sexual harassment at the workplace, human trafficking, and domestic violence.
According to Angela Clarke, public education coordinator at Woman Inc, the programme has helped women who are survivors of domestic violence and want to improve their lives. These women now recognise their value and worth but need further intervention to help them to heal and move into the next phase of their life, which is being independent.
“The women in the programme had not previously sought help, or had been recommended for further counselling even though some had been receiving assistance from The Crisis Centre. What was most surprising was the very great need that they all had to improve their lives by recognising that they had value and worth, that their voices would be listened to and that they felt safe to tell their stories,” Clarke said.
According to Michelle-Ann Letman, the sessions merely touched the surface of their intervention. “All the women had their own children and some were still very young. By helping these mothers, we can help to grow a generation of strong caring women which goes a long way to healing our country which is still suffering from generations of abuse of racism, colonialism and tremendous poverty,” Letman said. “These are strong women who need to heal and be given a chance that they are so deserving of. Each one heal one!” she added.