Minister Grange Committed To Working For Victims Of GBV

Jamaica has initiated several programmes with international support to tackle gender-based violence (GBV) and to ensure that victims have safe environments for recovery.

According to Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon Olivia Grange, the Government is ensuring that mechanisms are in place that will “work for victims” of GBV, as most do not seek help.

The Minister was delivering the keynote address at the official launch of the Intersectoral and Interagency Referral and Protocol and Standard Procedures for Continuum Care for Survivors of GBV, held Thursday (June 16), at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston. She noted that her Ministry is using findings from a 2016 Women’s Health Survey to “work cohesively” to deliver services to GBV victims.

She said scores of provisions have been established and implemented, “which are designed to improve the scope, the quality and the coordination of services to survivors”, adding that the work is being done with selected ministries, agencies and civil society, including support provided under the Spotlight Initiative.

Minister Grange said her Ministry, through the Bureau of Gender Affairs, is delivering improved access to “trauma-informed and survivor services”, as part of a number of provisions being made available in their “Continuum of Care” policy.

The Minister listed the establishment of national and regional shelters for victims, new legislation and legal reform “to provide greater protection to our women and girls”, as some of the achievements, to date. She also included the formation of a women’s bipartisan parliamentary caucus.

“This is a major achievement, because we are now united in one purpose to address gender-based violence and matters impacting our women. This is part of our wider mission of standing on the side of social justice to create safe spaces for women and girls,” the Minister told her audience.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in collaboration with the Bureau of Gender Affairs Jamaica, hosted the official launch. The overall objective of the activity is to support the establishment and operationalisation of a referral pathway and a coordination platform among government and other service providers.