We Are Failing Our Women & They Must be Protected From Violence: Guest MINDSETTER™ Ranglin-Vassell

We Are Failing Our Women & They Must be Protected From Violence: Guest MINDSETTER™ Ranglin-Vassell

I am writing this as a matter of great public health concern. I am troubled and deeply concerned by the upsurge in the number and the egregious way women are murdered and victimized in Jamaica. Violence against women and girls is on the rise and this cannot be tolerated or normalized.

Gun violence is a public health issue in Jamaica with totally preventable deaths soaring every day. The number of women that have been murdered within the last months and years have been tragically heart-wrenching. Sadly, violence among women is not new in Jamaica. I recall being a 14-year-old when a local shopkeeper, a woman was violently shot and killed. That was 46 years ago.

The recent tragic and gruesome violence against women, leading to their untimely deaths have shocked us to our very core. In recent weeks and months, grieving families have lost Black women and girls who have been the victims of violence.

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More recently, those that have been victimized, murdered or disappeared include Natalie Dawkins, a school teacher whose body was discovered in a shallow grave in Clarendon after being missing for several days, Andrea Lowe-Garwood, who was tragically shot to death during a live-streamed church service, Natesha Waite, whose body was discovered by her son with two stab wounds to the neck, Khanice Jackson, who was sexually assaulted, murdered and whose decomposing body was discovered in Portmore, and 25-year-old Tamara Higgins, a local taxi driver, was also a tragic victim.

These recent cases only highlight the deep and worrisome trend of domestic homicide on the island. Of course, we know that this does not include all the women and girls who have been missing and sadly, have never been accounted for.

The country must locate and bring home to her family and her community, Jasmine Dean, a visually impaired University of the West Indies student who remains missing after a year since her disappearance. The family, community and those who love Jasmine Dean are still waiting to hear about her whereabouts. The police should not let this case go cold nor should they stop searching for her. We cannot and should never normalize the murder and the wanton victimization and violence of women, girls or, anyone for that matter.

In addressing violence against women and girls, there must be a strategic and critical examination of economics and the power that money yields in relationships. The United Nations reports that overall unemployment was at 14.2% in 2015 with 10.7% male unemployment and 18.5% female unemployment. These statistics illustrate the level of dependency that women in Jamaica face in partner relationships.  Poverty and the dehumanization of women and girls continue to leave women and girls vulnerable, missing and tragically dead.

It is a sad and equally tragic state in the homeland when according to the UN Women online report that “one in four women in Jamaica experience intimate partner violence.”  More than one in every four women in Jamaica has experienced intimate partner physical and sexual violence in their lifetime. The first comprehensive Jamaican national survey on gender-based violence revealed a prevalence of 27.8% women affected. Additionally, one of every four women (25.2%) has experienced physical violence alone at the hands of a male partner.

More recently, allegedly, a minister in government was captured on video in what appeared to be him beating a woman, punching her and even hitting her with a stool. These actions, if reports must be believed, should not be tolerated.

For Jamaicans at home, as well as in the Diaspora, it appears that collectively we have lost our moral compass. We must return to kindness and civility.

In my capacity as a member of the Diaspora but also an elected official in the State of Rhode Island and a member of the Rhode Island General Assembly, I am respectfully calling on the Honorable Olivia “Babsy” Grange, Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sports as well as the Minister of Health, the Honorable Christopher Tufton, MD, to expeditiously address this escalating issue of violence and deaths among women and girls. I am also calling for a commission to be assembled immediately to examine and address the impact of the trauma on children, families, and communities as a direct result of these murders and/or other acts of violence.

Rep. Marcia Ranglin-Vassell represents District 5 in the Rhode Island House of Representatives.  A native of Jamaica, she currently resides in Providence, Rhode Island.