Stand Up for Jamaica offers help to domestic abuse victims in St Thomas, Portland

Female victims of domestic abuse in St Thomas and Portland are set to benefit from a gender-based violence initiative which is being spearheaded by Stand Up For Jamaica and sponsored by the German Embassy.

Under the project, which will run from May 1 to December 20, women from Portland who have suffered some form of domestic abuse will pursue a level-2 HEART/NSTA Trust cosmetology course while another 20 from St Thomas will pursue the course at level 1.

The six-month-long project is aimed at empowering women by equipping them with a professional skill to help them become independent, and sensitising them about domestic abuse.

The participants will also engage in entrepreneurship, along which they will be taught, among other things, how to calculate income, draft invoices and market themselves.

Self-empowerment and awareness sessions will improve their capacity to recognise their dignity and the right to be treated with respect.

IMPORTANT SESSIONS

An important part of the project is the hosting of human rights and gender-based violence capacity-building sessions with males at schools, police stations, and health departments featuring discussions about healthy relationships, how it can be achieved and what is required.

According to Stand Up For Jamaica, it is important to work with possible perpetrators because if the men’s mindsets are not changed and only women are engaged, cultural change will not take place, so that people can understand that their relationships must include good communication and respect, and not violence.

About 400 men are expected to be impacted.

“In our years of working on gender-based violence, one of the main issues that we have seen is that most women often remain in abusive relationships because they are unable to support themselves financially,” Stand Up Jamaica said. “So, instead of just doing counselling and helping them, we provide them with a professional skill and we selected cosmetology because it is highly motivating, they love it, it does not require a high level of literacy or qualification and you can do it from home. Once you have your certificate, you can work without the need to rent a shop and you can work from home or go to the client’s home.

AMBASSADORS

“So, the idea was to give them an instrument to emancipate themselves and also to use them as ambassadors in their communities because they can talk to other abused women and provide them with guidance on how to get themselves out of the situation and how and where to get help.

Additionally, the organisation said, most of its programmes are often initiated in Kingston and the rural areas are often left out, so a decision was taken to bring the project to the rural areas where it has been successful.

Along with their certificates, the trainees will receive care packages with items to start their businesses.

“We thought it would be useful to give them items that they can use to start their work. We hope to continue because we know that in dealing with gender-based violence we are successful when we empower our women with skills,” the organisation said. “Women need something realistic which will help them take a stand.”

Since the programme commenced last August in Portland, in partnership with HEART, Shylock’s School of Cosmetology and Portland Arts and Vocational Education Centre (PAVE), 39 women have already benefitted – 20 from Portland and 19 from Kingston who finished their course in February.

The Canadian High Commission sponsored the first batch of women from Portland.