How a cry for help rallied support for domestic abuse victims
Published:Monday | August 29, 2022 | 12:07 AM
A voice note from an anonymous victim of domestic violence in the wee hours of an October 2020 morning was Chevonette James-Henry’s call to pen Shades of Survival.
“She went on to detail the abusive situation that she was in. I knew that message was intended for me, because at the end of the voice note, she said, ‘You have written about women’s issues and so I am asking you to write my story and the story of so many others like me,’” the author and special education teacher recounted.
James-Henry told The Gleaner that the voice note revived memories, when she was 16, of witnessing a neighbour being beaten every weekend.
She recalled that residents in the community often laughed about the situation and jeered the victim.
“I was very silent, didn’t know what to do. The community was also silent and didn’t understand that we were enabling the abuser, and so I decided to write this woman’s story, even though I didn’t have much to authenticate the realness of the voice note,” she said.
The 15-chapter book tells the stories of 15 women from diverse backgrounds and offers practical solutions to victims.
Shades of Survival, her fourth book, is the hardest she has written to date, primarily because she has not been a victim of domestic violence or any other form of abuse.
“It was a little bit difficult for me to connect, because even though I am a pastor’s wife and a classroom teacher, and I have been exposed to persons who have been abused, I had no personal experience,” James-Henry said.
One in three Jamaican women experiences domestic abuse.
Domestic disputes have been listed as a chief cause of a growing number of killings in the country, with women accounting for two fatalities in a matter of days in St Catherine.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have had an increase in cases. We have heard the many stories of our women and girls being raped, brutally beaten, molested, and some have been killed,” James-Henry lamented.
“This is a call for advocacy, and Jamaica has to start the conversation again. We can’t let it die, because silence has been costly for us as a nation.”
Through reading, she hopes victims will seek help through any of the services listed in the book.
“I want women and girls who feel hopeless and helpless to find their way out of abusive situations. The book will help them to empower themselves. All of us have been touched by abuse, so the book is beneficial to all,” she remarked.
Shades of Survival is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.