Third shelter for abused women completed

The Government has completed its third shelter for women experiencing abuse, fulfilling its commitment to establish three safe spaces across Jamaica that provide protection and comprehensive support.

Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange, made the announcement during a recent tour of the facility, noting that it will provide women with more than temporary protection.

“This space, this third shelter, will provide more than just a safe space. It will also provide a space where they will transition from being in a safe space to being trained, given skills, and then transition out back into a normal life,” she said.

The minister said completion of the facility represents significant progress in advancing the Government’s gender agenda by ensuring that safe spaces are available across the island.

Grange said the network of shelters will strengthen the country’s ability to respond when women are in danger, allowing the necessary support systems to be activated to move them into safe environments.

“And we are now better equipped that when we get the call, we are able to activate the kind of network that is necessary to move them into safe spaces,” she said.

In addition to accommodation and protection, the shelters provide counselling and skills training to assist women in rebuilding their lives and transitioning back into independent living.

“We not only ensure that we protect them but we help them to gain skills where they don't have skills. We provide counselling,” Minister Grange said.

She noted that the facilities are also equipped to accommodate mothers and their children, including families requiring extended support.

“We have adequate space that we can facilitate a family, mother and children,” she said, adding that the shelters have previously accommodated a mother and six children, as well as a pregnant woman who gave birth while residing at a shelter.

Minister Grange expressed satisfaction that the establishment of the three shelters now provides islandwide coverage, supported by a network of organisations working together to assist women in situations of danger.

“I am pleased that we are now able to cover the island and we have organisations that we work as a network to ensure that we can provide that mechanism to move our women into safe spaces when they are in danger,” she said.

AN IMPORTANT INTERVENTION

Deputy Prime Minister, Dr Horace Chang, who chairs the Citizens Business Group, which oversees the Government’s social intervention efforts, welcomed the completion of the facility.

He said the shelter forms part of the Government’s target to establish three institutions for abused women, describing the initiative as an important intervention for vulnerable communities.

“It has been a big part of our programme to seek to impact, in a positive way, a number of vulnerable communities in Jamaica and in particular in this case women who have suffered abuse,” Dr Chang said.

He noted that the facility represents the final component of the Government’s original plan to establish three shelters.

Dr Chang, who is also Minister of National Security and Peace, acknowledged the support provided through international and Consolidated Fund resources, lauding the work being undertaken by Minister Grange to strengthen services for vulnerable Jamaicans.

The facility is scheduled to be officially taken over on September 1 and will be staffed by that time.

Minister Grange said a further announcement will be made regarding the date on which the shelter will begin accepting members of the public.

- JIS

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