The Bureau of Gender Affairs, a subsection of the Ministry of Gender, Culture, Entertainment and Sport, is urging both victims of domestic abuse and their perpetrators to seek help instead of remaining passive.

“There is no excuse for abuse, and we want all Jamaican women to know that they need to live a life free from any of its forms. We also want to encourage our men to support our women in ending violence against ladies and girls,” said Director of Community Liaison for the Bureau of Gender Affairs, Nardia McLaren.

McLaren made the call during the Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ) march against violence facing women and children on Monday, May 19.

McLaren pointed out that Jamaican males were just as involved in the process for change as the females were, and that only together could both genders make a positive change.

“Not all men are abusers, but we want the ones who are to seek help. At the Bureau of Gender Affairs, we have a help line which persons can call if they’re being abused or are perpetrators of abuse, for them to get help,” she said.

McLaren, Minister Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange, had joined the march to express their outrage at the upsurge in violence directed towards women and children. The march came in light of a video in which St Andrew businessman Robert Bell savagely assaulted a nurse during a reported road rage incident. Bell has since been charged.

“We are the national machinery that deals with ending gender-based violence against women, so that is why we’re here today: to support the march [rebuking] violence against the nurses,” McLaren said.