Dear Editor,

Imagine, the month of May was celebrated as Child Month, but every day atrocities are meted out to our nation’s children.

It is overwhelming, and as a mother, I am scared. When it is not traffic crashes, it is shootings; when it is not stabbings, it is abductions; when it is not rape, it is human trafficking. When will the carnage against children stop? It is high time we as a nation join hands and heart in the fight against the violence being meted out on the nation’s children. This pervasive violence against children and women is indeed of grave concern not only for Jamaica but for humanity as a whole. It’s heart-rending to hear of these atrocities, especially in a country with such potential for progress and prosperity.

In 1990, the Convention on the Rights of the Child was enacted to recognise that children have the right to full and harmonious development of his or her personality; to grow up in a family environment in an atmosphere of happiness, love, and understanding, in a safe environment. UNICEF also supports the implementation of the National Programme for the Prevention of Violence and Abuse of Children. Against this backdrop, the main strategy involves direct engagement with children to raise their awareness of their rights and the mechanisms for alerting the authorities in cases of violence.

What is Jamaica doing to mitigate violence against its children?

Under the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, we all have the right to life, liberty, and security of person except in the execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which the person has been convicted; the right to freedom of thought, conscience, belief, and observance of political doctrines; and the right to freedom of expression, among several other rights.

Against this backdrop, why do criminal elements of this noble island keep infringing on our human rights and, worse, killing the nation’s children and women like lambs at an abattoir. I am sick of the actions of the criminal elements of Jamaica who continue to be inhumane, cruel, and outright wicked.

Every day we wake up to murders, abductions, kidnappings, rapes, drive-by shootings, firebombings, and missing person notices. Time come! We need to be living in a safer space. Jamaica needs to get a grip on the crime and violence in the country. It is mandated for our leaders to keep us safe by any means. It is high time they implement policies, Acts, and legislations that will deter these criminal elements in their criminal intents and actions.

Are we still on the vision 2030 journey? The National Development Plan has four strategic goals essential for Jamaica’s development:

1) Jamaicans are empowered to achieve their fullest potential;

2) the Jamaican society is safe, cohesive, and just;

3) Jamaica’s economy is prosperous; and

4) Jamaica has a healthy natural environment

Goal number three states that by 2030 we should have a safe society. We are now in 2024, and I really can’t see anything being done to curb the violence here. How are we going to have a safe society by 2030? With all the technological advancements available, including JamaicaEye, I expected more from the powers that be. I thought more crime solving would be evident and more would be done to reduce incidents as well catch criminals.

It has become so sinister that even people obeying traffic signals have been shot and killed. The religious values that were once strong have been diminished in our land. In the meantime, the Church remains quiet while the people suffer the onslaught from criminal elements.

Jamaicans are begging for crime to end, for justice to be served to the perpetrators of violence once and for all. Our fundamental human rights must be upheld. We must be safe, and we must demand this from the powers that be. Equally, the justice system must give sentences to deter these criminal elements from committing horrible crimes.

Only divine intervention can save this land, but, in the meantime, we need the powers that be to implement drastic measures to reduce crime in our beautiful country.

Karen McFarlane

karmac1980.km@gmail.com