Addressing domestic violence requires coordinated actions involving law enforcement, communities and organisations that provide support to victims, says Head of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) Domestic Violence Intervention Unit, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Jacqueline Dillon.

“What we need to be doing is through partnerships and collaborations, so that we can find solutions to some of the issues that communities face,” DSP Dillon said.

She was speaking to JIS News during the Unit’s Cross-Country Tour stop at the Cornwall Gardens playfield in Mt Salem, St James, on Saturday, March 14.

DSP Dillon noted that more than 7,000 domestic violence cases were reported to the JCF last year, with 34 murders linked to such incidents, highlighting the continued prevalence of violence within households across the island.

“Those are the only cases that we know about, as after Hurricane Melissa (in October), we had no communication for a while, so we were not able to pick up some of the data,” she explained.

DSP Dillon noted that the statistics also reflect the deadly consequences domestic conflicts can have. “There are some that we’re still not sure about, because investigations are still ongoing,” she said.

She indicated that reports received by the police do not fully capture the scope of the problem, as some victims choose to seek assistance through other avenues.

“So, persons will call the gender-based violence hotline that is operated by the Bureau of Gender Affairs. Persons will go through the court without coming to us…so the numbers that we get as law enforcement is not the true number of what happens in a community,” DSP Dillon pointed out.

The senior police officer further explained that data analysis shows domestic violence occurring across several parishes.

DSP Dillon emphasised that domestic violence extends beyond conflicts between intimate partners and can also occur among relatives. “It’s just not an intimate partner situation. It’s also among family members, brothers, sisters, cousins, persons who are related by blood,” she added.

The senior officer noted that the trend is not unique to Jamaica, pointing out that similar patterns have been observed internationally. “If we look right across the globe, we have had similar trends. So, Jamaica is not unique,” DSP Dillon said.