Stop the Violence and Aggression

Hyacinth Hall, like many others before, was violently killed in the privacy of the home in which she worked. Hyacinth, however, was not just another woman. She was the mother of Michelle, CAFRA’s hard-working National Representative of Jamaica.

At least once every year, usually on November 25, the women’s movement in the Caribbean reflects on the issue of violence against women, a significant cause of female mortality and morbidity around the globe, ever conscious that violence can hit close to home.

In the Jamaican context, violence against women is part of the broader problem of violence and aggression that have crept menacingly into the fabric of Jamaican society. Sadly, the rest of the Caribbean is not far behind. And, as we find out all too soon, violence poses a powerful obstacle to achieving goals that are high on the development agenda.

The January-March 1998 issue of Children in Focus, the quarterly newsletter of the UNICEF Caribbean Area Office, examines the impact of violence on children in Jamaica, where "first or second-hand experience of violence...is a given." The article continues that "wasted lives, traumatized children and families, communities shattered in a seemingly continuous cycle of aggression" - these are the grim realities of life in Jamaica today.

The Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action (CAFRA) empathizes with the many Jamaicans who deplore the level of violence and lawlessness that characterized recent and recurring disturbances. Our only hope is that some good will emerge as the society grapples with its collective conscience and halts the pervasive and growing disrespect and aggression.

We grieve for our sister Hyacinth. We pray that her family and loved ones find some comfort in their memories ... and courage to face the difficult time ahead.