I have just realised that International Women's Day is coming up this week (Friday March 8) with the theme: "Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress."
It's a worthy sentiment, but I cannot help feeling that the theme for Jamaica should be (perhaps every year) along the lines of protecting women and girls. Just one example: a sixteen-year-old girl was shot dead on her verandah on Saturday morning in Little London, Westmoreland, allegedly by an ex-boyfriend. Tara Dennis had to cut short her high school education because of financial problems; she was living with her grandmother. She had just got a job as an ice-cream server in Negril, but planned to go back to school. She was sitting on the verandah with a man who had walked her home from the bus stop when the young man shot them both; the man is in hospital.
Tara Dennis, age 16, had just got herself a job. (Photo: Jamaica Observer)
I was very disturbed by the cold and cynical comments made on social media about this vulnerable young woman, trying to make her way in life - victim-blaming, really. This is not unusual. Her death was likely her fault, they have concluded. What a tragic end for young Tara! How many more young women are living in fear of their lives? How many are trying to stand on their own feet like her?
Just a week earlier, Bianca Thompson, a teenager the same age as Tara, and living in urban Arnett Gardens, Kingston, was shot dead in her bed. I have not heard much detail about this tragic incident. Bianca was a student at St. Andrew Technical High School. These are children.
In this light, I welcome the news that human rights group Stand Up for Jamaica has spearheaded a programme for twenty female victims of domestic violence in rural Portland to be able to make their own lives through employment and entrepreneurship, with support from the Canadian Government. This kind of independence is especially important for young women in rural communities (like Tara), whose lives are so often overlooked. And, please note, men were included in the conversation. The twenty women will graduate from their course tomorrow, March 4.
Now I come to think of it, this is in keeping with the International Women's Day theme. SUFJ and the Canadians are investing in women, and they are investing in themselves!
Stand Up for Jamaica offers help to twenty victims of domestic abuse
Twenty female victims of domestic abuse from Portland, who participated in an empowerment initiative spearheaded by Stand Up for Jamaica, will graduate on Monday, March 4, 2024 with certificates in cosmetology.
The programme which commenced last September was made possible through a grant from the organization's Canadian partners, Canadian High Commission and the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI), which has been advocating against gender-based violence. Other partners and collaborators included the HEART/NSTA Trust, Shylocks School of Cosmetology and Portland Arts and Vocational Education Centre (PAVE).
The five-month-long project aimed at empowering women and equipping them with professional skills, saw the first batch of participants pursuing a level 1 HEART/ NSTA Trust cosmetology course at Shylocks School of Cosmetology in Portland.
The participants also took part in entrepreneurial and counselling sessions, where they were taught among other things, how to prepare a business plan, draft invoices and make themselves more marketable by increasing their skills.
An important element of the project was a joint interactive session with men which featured discussions about healthy relationships, how they can be achieved, and what is required. It was important to work with possible perpetrators because if we don't change the men's mindset and only work with women, it is not going to bring about a cultural change so that people can understand that their relationship must include good communication and respect and not violence.
Most of our programmes are often initiated in Kingston and the rural areas are often left out, so we decided to bring this experiment to Portland and it was very successful. Although we had only invited 20 women, over 100 requests were submitted, demonstrating the need for intervention among this vulnerable group of women.
In our years of working with 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. So the idea was to give them an instrument to emancipate themselves, while having them serve as ambassadors in their communities as they relay the knowledge that they have gained, sensitise other abused women, and provide them with guidance on how to recognise abuse and get help.
Along with their certificates, the graduates will receive business starter packages. We thought it would be useful to give them items that they can use to start their own businesses in the skill area for which they are now being certified. We hope to continue the programme in the future, as we know that in dealing with gender–based violence, we are successful when we empower our women with skills. Women need something realistic which will help them take a stand.
The graduation will commence at 11 am on Monday, March 4, 2024, at the Portland Arts and Vocational Education Centre (PAVE) in Port Antonio and will also feature addresses from special guests including Canadian High Commissioner to Jamaica, Her Excellency Emina Tudakovic and HEART/NSTA Trust Region 2 Regional Director Dr Aston Spencer.
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