Social anthropologist Dr Herbert Gayle is arguing that boys in Jamaica are more likely to die than woman and girls combined, which puts Jamaica in a unique position globally.

Gayle was speaking at an anti-gang town hall meeting, held yesterday (November 16) by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).

The event took place in the form of a panel discussion on the topics of violence in schools, gangs and overall increased crime rate in Jamaica.

Gayle noted that, if we look at every 100 people who die in Jamaica, boys are more often victims than women and girls combined.

He defined a boy as a male under the age of 18 years old.

“When I go to an international meeting on violence, Jamaica becomes unique, because we are probably the only country known where more boys die than women and girls combined,” said Gayle.

When he did a breakdown of victims of crime, he noted that, “80 per cent would be males over the age of 18, nine per cent would be boys who are victims of murder and the next category would be women, then girls”.

He added that, within Jamaica, it is often perceived that boys are mainly the perpetrators of violence. But “boys are actually the group that has the most disproportionate victimisation of violence than anybody else”.

In fact, boys are four times more likely to be killed, than to kill someone, when they are involved in criminal activities, stated Gayle.

Boys being targeted to conduct crime

But, their status as a victim does not mean they do not engage in criminal activities.

In addition to being victims, boys are also perpetrators of crime, added Gayle, but it is because they are being targeted.

Through research, Gayle said he and his team discovered 38 triggers that make young men more likely to commit criminal activities.

One trigger highlighted was requests made from men in their community who often use boys to conduct criminal activities.

He clarified that these triggers are not an excuse, but “70 to 80 per cent of the time a boy is instructed to kill, rather than to kill in an altercation with his peer”.

He added that both boys and girl are often caught up in illegal activities because of their environment.

A violence audit is needed to identify children in these communities who are affected, because it would cause a significant drop in the murder rate, stated Gayle.

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