Gov’t Secures Property for Women’s Shelter

Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange, says the Government has acquired a property outside of Kingston, which will be used as a shelter for women fleeing domestic abuse.

The facility, which will be funded and run by the State, will house the women and their children and provide counselling and other services.

“We feel that Government has a responsibility to ensure that we provide the facilities and we are leading the way and setting the example in addressing issues of gender-based violence. We have physically taken over the property, and we are now assessing what renovations and refurbishing needs to be done,” Minister Grange said.

She was speaking to journalists following the launch of the Jamaica Women’s Health Survey Report at the Terra Nova All Suite Hotel on June 21.

Minister Grange informed that funds were allocated in the budget to purchase the property, which was previously being used as a guest house.

“We know that before the end of the year, we will have the shelter up and running. We got a good deal on the property as we were able to purchase [it] in addition to the furniture,” Ms. Grange said.

The Woman Incorporated Crisis shelter in Kingston was officially reopened on in October 2017 after extensive renovation and expansion to house additional women and children, who are victims of violence.

The project was undertaken by the Government through more than $14 million in funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The Women’s Health Survey, the first of its kind in CARICOM, was conducted in Jamaica in 2016.

It provides data on the national prevalence of violence against women and will support the country’s global commitments to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as implementation of the National Strategic Action Plan to Eliminate Gender-based Violence.