Women's Human Rights
Sexual violence against women and girls in
Jamaica:
Introduction - Sexual violence in
Jamaica"The lawyer made me feel like a slut in court. He tried to
convince the court that I was guilty for them doing such a terrible thing to
me,"(1) recalls one Jamaican woman who was abducted from her workplace and
gang-raped at gunpoint.Violence against women in Jamaica persists
because the state is failing to tackle discrimination against women, allowing
social and cultural attitudes which encourage discrimination and
violence.
This violates the government’s most basic treaty obligations
under the UN Convention for the Elimination of Violence against Women (CEDAW),
among others. Shortcomings in national legislation do not deal adequately with
marital rape, incest or sexual harassment, thereby encouraging impunity and
leaving women without the protection of the law.
Discrimination is
entrenched and often exacerbated in the police and criminal justice system.
Women and adolescent girls are rarely believed by the police, so have little
confidence in reporting crimes against them. Evidence is often not sought
effectively or professionally, and witnesses are rarely protected. In court,
women’s testimony is explicitly given less weight than men’s, thereby depriving
women of the right to equality before the law.
In Jamaica, entrenched
discrimination against women means many individuals fail to appreciate that
forced sex carried out by an acquaintance or family member is a serious
crime.
The rate of sexual violence against women in Jamaica is very
high,(2) and is accompanied by spiralling levels of community violence and
homicide throughout the island. In 2005, the number of homicides in Jamaica,
already high, increased to 1,669(3). At 0.55 - 0.62 per thousand people, this is
one of the highest rates in the world.
Sexual assault is the
second-most-common cause of injury for women, after fights. Five per cent of all
violent injuries seen in hospitals are caused by sexual assaults(4).