For assistance call Jamaica COALITION Against Domestic Violence (JCADV)
1-800-598-7607.
Woman Inc 1-876-929-9038
Bureau of Gender Affairs 1-876-754-8576
JCADV believes we must recognize, report, and prevent Domestic Violence! First, let us define domestic violence so victims, bystanders, family and friends can recognize Domestic Violence early!
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE is aggressive, controlling, manipulative, and abusive behaviors within the home. These behaviors typically involves the abuse of an intimate partner, elderly parents, children, and other relatives or friends living in the home. Domestic violence can affect anyone of any race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, socio-economic status, and education level.
There are different Characteristics of Domestic Violence:
VERBAL ABUSE is using spoken and unspoken words to control, insult, destructively criticize, demean, intimidate, manipulate, and cause fear in others. Some examples include name calling, yelling Shut Up, yelling and screaming, using derogatory words, judging and criticizing, accusing and blaming, blocking and diverting, trivializing, verbal abuse disguised as jokes, discounting or saying someone is childish, withholding information, and intentionally refusing to speak to people in the household.
PHYSICAL ABUSE may or may not leave bruises or scars such as shoving, shaking, scratching, punching, burning, throwing objects, intimidation or threatening to attack with weapons, strangling, and any attempts or threats to kill you.
EMOTIONAL or PSYCHOLOGICAL ABUSE used to damage your mind or emotional well-being. These behaviors can be verbal or non-verbal such as name calling, humiliation, mocking, yelling, swearing, manipulating your children, cheating or being jealous, blaming you for abusive behaviors, lying to your family and friends.
TECHNOLOGICAL ABUSE using technology or electronic communications such as cell phones, GPS trackers on cell phones and cars, using computers, and drones to terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, or stalk others. Recording, monitoring your phone calls, texts, car and computer use.
ECONOMIC/ FINANCIAL ABUSE taking control of the finances and leaving the victim to have no say on how money is used in the relationship. Take as some of the many examples, forbidding the victim to work or attend school, jeopardizing employment by stalking or harassing the victim at his or her workplace, withholding money or giving an allowance, denying access to bank accounts, ruining the victim's credit by running up debt in the victim's name, stealing the victim's money or devising schemes to get the victim's money or wealth.
SEXUAL ABUSE, rape, or sexual assault is any sexual contact or behaviors that occur without consent. Under age children and people that are under the Influence of drugs cannot consent to sex. Some examples of sexual abuse is taking advantage of you while you are drunk or not in the right frame of mind to give consent, forcing you to do painful and degrading acts during sex, rape, taking pictures or recordings while having sex without your consent, threatening to break up if you refuse sex, forcing you to perform sexual acts on others for money…
Remember as Family and Friends it is our Duty to RECOGNIZE, REPORT, and PREVENT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE!!!
