Making Sense of Violence and

the Millennium Development

Goals (with an emphasis on Goals 1 and 3)

Ms. Taitu HeronFor UNDP/FES Community Dialogue

Making the Connections: Millennium Development Goals 1 and 3

Port Antonio, Portland

November 4, 2009

What are the Millennium Development Goals?

• UNDP tells us that the Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs) are eight (8) goals to be achieved by

2015 that respond to the world's main development

challenges. The MDGs are drawn from the actions

and targets contained in the Millennium Declaration

that was adopted by 189 nations-and signed by 147

heads of state and governments during the UN

Millennium Summit in September 2000.

• The eight MDGs break down into 21 quantifiable

targets that are measured by 60 indicators.

The MDGs

• Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

• Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

• Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

• Goal 4: Reduce child mortality

• Goal 5: Improve maternal health

• Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

• Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

• Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development

What then is poverty?

What does it mean to be poor?

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

What do we want to eradicate? What then is poverty? Or

what does it mean to be poor?

– No voice in policies or in the delivery of services

– Limited access to education, resulting in reduced literacy

rates

– Limited access to health services

– Limited access to land and water, or insecure rights of access

to these resources

– Poor access to credit facilities, extension services and

agricultural services

– Inadequate housing and road networks

– Limited or difficult access to markets (business & job)

– and low household incomes, related to generally high levels of

unemployment or under-employment.

What do

we mean

by gender

equality?

What is gender equality?

• Equality - a right not a luxury

• Gender equality is simple: women and men must

have the same rights and access to

opportunities and discrimination based on

gender has to stop.

• Wherever the burden of inequality exists, power,

opportunities, time and resources must be

balanced;

• Gender equality is also essential if we are to

meet any of the Millennium Development Goals.

Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and

Empower women

What do we mean by gender equality and why do we need to empower women?

• Gender equality means that things between men and women, economically, socially and politically, at all levels in society – in the household, in the community, in the schools, in the church, etc., are equal in terms of access to resources, opportunities and how much power one has.

• Based on how the society is run we know that women are more disadvantaged than men in many ways, and in other ways, men are more disadvantaged than women. Thus because women are more disadvantaged we say that we need more help.

Empowering

women

To be empowered means having increased

opportunity for women to control their lives:

• The power to make decisions

• The power to have your voice heard

• The power to put things on the agenda

• The power to negotiate something

• The power within to challenge past customs.

Making sense of violence in Jamaica and

the MDGs 1 and 3

• There is no clear mention of gender in the

MDG relating to poverty reduction;

• There is no explicit mention of poverty in the

goal relating to gender equality and

women’s empowerment.

• There is no goal that deals explicitly with

violence

........BUT

Is there

an end to

poverty? What does

poverty

have to do

with

violence?

Does

gender

have

anything

to do

with

poverty?

Trends in Gender and Poverty• More poor female- headed households in the rural

areas in the other towns and the KMA;

• In the absence of consistent male support/ presence, female headed households face triple burdens: childbearing/rearing, employment and managing households, they lack the time and resources needed for them to escape poverty and improve their employability;

• Poor males tend to gravitate towards seeking employment, ‘juggling and hustling’, criminal involvement;

• Poor females tend to gravitate towards seeking employment, male dependency, remittances, commercial sex

• Of those involved in crime and violence, 98% are males.

• More young men involved in crime (52%, between 12 –25 years)

• The role of women in “protecting” and “supporting” the male criminals.

• More men are committing sexual violence.• More men are raping women, most of these females

are between 16-20; a third of the rapists are between 21-44.

• Noticeable trend of young women becoming involved in gun crimes, gang memberships, etc.

(ESSJ 2006)

13

Trends in Gender and Violence

Gender and Violence continued• Increasing trend of women physically

abusing their children; • More reported cases of incest in rural

areas;• Rape as reprisal and sexual servitude of

young girls to Dons in organized crime;• GBV perpetrated by women is not readily

available; the power of gender stereotypes does not facilitate a social space for male victims of GBV;

• A clear relationship does not exist between law reform, public education and court cases with violence against women and girls and buggery of young males.

• Court System is not user-friendly

Crimes 2008 (ESSJ 2008)

• A total of 10 039 major crimes were reported, 27.5 per cent more than 2007. The crime rate was 373 per 100 000 population.

• Of the total number of major crimes reported in 2008, (2 817) 28.1 per cent were cleared up by the end of the year.

• There were 2 232 cases of sexual violence, 57% of the victims were under 19 years old. The majority of the victims were female, while 29 males were also violated.

• 73 per cent of the major crimes committed were in the parishes of St. Andrew, St. Catherine, St. James, Kingston and Clarendon.

ESSJ 2008

Educational Level of New Admissions to Prisons (ESSJ 2008)

Illiterate

9.7%

Poor

54.2%

Fair

23.1%

Good

4.2%

Not recorded

8.7%

Data on Crime and Violence Continued

•The number of females murdered increased by 13.0 per cent to 165 from 146 in 2007.

•There was also an increase in the number of children (0–17 years old) murdered to 94 from 70 and 65 in 2007 and 2006 respectively.

•Of the total number of persons murdered, 18.4 per cent was labourers while 16.5 per cent was unemployed.

•The gun was used to commit 77.4 per cent of all murders while knives/machetes were used in 16.6 per cent

Making the Links•Violence occurs in all social and economic

classes, but men and women living in poverty are

more likely to experience violence. It is clear that

poverty and its associated stressors are important

contributors ;

•Why this is so? Men in difficult economic

circumstances (e.g. unemployment, little job

autonomy, low socioeconomic status or blocked

advancement due to lack of education) may resort

to violence towards their family members out of

frustration, and a sense of hopelessness.

•At the same time, poor women who experience

violence from their may have fewer resources to

escape violence in the home or find help

elsewhere.

Making the Links

•Women are in difficult economic

circumstances, whether with a partner or

not, may take out their stress by physically

abusing their children;

•Men from poor communities in urban

settings or fishing communities may get

involved in illegal work such as working with

a don to move guns, commit robberies;

move drugs; etc. The nature of this new

occupation creates violence, such as

murder, especially once they get a gun.

STOP!

Group Activity(2 groups of 3 or 4 each, 1 male in each group)

Violence and the MDGs

• All forms of violence impact nearly every MDG.

• It causes poverty from this slowdown and closure of

businesses, immobility, injury or death of a household

head and the impact on remaining family members.

• Gender-based violence is profoundly disempowering

for women’s well-being and their levels of economic

productivity.

• Violence affects education as schools have to close

down or attendance is negatively affected.

• Trauma affects educational performance, mental and

physical health and productivity. Violence eats into

resources needed to reduce child and maternal

mortality and other areas in health care.

The violence makes us isolated and more difficult to

break the cycle of poverty and gender inequality

Thanks for listening!!Data Sources & References: ESSJ 2006, 2007, 2008; Status of Women and Men in Jamaica, Desk Review, 2005, Gender Advisory Committee; UN AMR

Report, PIOJ and MFAFT, July 2009.