ADVOCACY organisation Jamaica AIDS Support for Life (JASL) says that while it appreciates that, while there have been some legislative changes to address gender-based violence (GBV) over the years, there are some gaps in law that still need to be dealt with in order to adequately tackle the issue.

JASL also laments that many of its recommendations to amend related laws, though accepted by parliamentary committees, have not moved beyond being mere suggestions in a report.

JASL’s Policy and Advocacy Officer Patrick Lalor pointed out at last week’s Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange that when comparing some of the changes to key legislation from 10 years ago to what now exists, they have not been significant.

“The Domestic Violence Act that we had 10 years ago and the one we have now, the Sexual Offences Act we had 10 years ago and the one we have now, and I could name maybe four other pieces of legislation that are part of our advocacy around violence against women and gender-based violence broadly, these pieces of legislation, for the most part, are the same. So what successes we have had in terms of policy and legislative changes are very minute,” he said.

While welcoming the increase in the fine for breaching a protection order under the Domestic Violence Act from $10,000 to $1 million, Lalor pointed out that the portfolio minister had promised to set up a joint select committee of Parliament to do a thorough review of the legislation, but this was not followed through.

“The announcements came that this fine is going up to a million dollars and a few other changes, and then we heard nothing more about the sub-committee. So the reality is, we still want that sub-committee because the changing of that fine is just a minuscule piece of that legislation that needs to be amended,” he declared.

Lalor further lamented that the domestic violence legislation is confined to physical evidence, where if there is no sign of physical abuse when someone goes to the police, in these situations, there’s very little they can do. “The data shows that violence takes so many other forms, so the legislation needs to catch up with dealing with the other forms of violence,” he said.

Venting his frustration regarding the Sexual Offences Act, Lalor noted that JASL participated in a joint select committee in 2014 and made submissions. The Government changed in 2016 and a new committee was named. The entity again made submissions.

“Two years later in 2018 that committee published a report. In that report, it accepted quite a few of our recommendations, including that Section 5 of the Sexual Offences Act which deals with marital rape be repealed. That is the section that says a husband cannot rape his wife unless certain circumstances exist and there has been the call to say once consent is absent, it is rape. Six years later, we are in 2024, soon 2025; it is still just a recommendation in a report,” he said.

Agreeing, JASL’s Executive Director Kandasi Walton-Levermore said that it is unacceptable that there has been no move towards actioning the recommendations.

“That is something I think we need to say to the Government. I know sometimes we tend to be caught up in things that are strictly violence, like murders or anything that’s going to impact the economy. But all of these things play a role and so if you have a report sitting on for the last six years, no man, come on, man, do something about it,” she begged.

Another legislative gap is that there is no redress for people whose HIV status has been publicly disclosed.

“Unauthorised disclosure — what is the legal recourse that these people have when this happens? They can come in and counsel can write a cease and desist letter to say stop doing this, but there’s not much more that can be done. We definitely have strong data to support that position. It is indeed from either intimate partners or close family members and these person’s status are being disclosed with very little redress available,” he said.

Additionally, JASL’s Policy Advocacy Officer Latoya Thomas lamented that there’s no anti-discrimination legislation at all. She noted, for example, that the law has a shortfall when it comes GBV, in recognising the types of intimate partner relationships people engage in, pointing out that domestic violence normally covers what is in the home, which can affect children, women and so on.

“It is the householder, but there is no consideration for a visiting relationship where the person may leave every weekend. The law also does not address all the nuances of intimate partner relationships, as some Jamaicans are in ‘situationship’, casual, serious and otherwise.”

Thomas said the same rings true for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community in seeking redress as the law speaks to spouse and they are not spouses but partners.

“So this is where JASL recognises that we need to have legal literacy training on rights issues for persons affected by this including persons living with HIV. Because the reality is that in these relationships, intimate partner violence, do ensue, and then what happens? Under-reporting is one. They have to face maybe self stigma and other stigmas. Even something simple like making a report to the police, there’s another barrier right then and there because the reality is that even the police aren’t equipped to deal with survivors.

She said that to address the shortfalls, JASL has also started to do human rights training for the duty bearers — extended from the police, to medical practitioner, justices of the peace, mediators, schools and so on.

JASL is the largest and longest-serving organisation offering, prevention, treatment and care services to persons living with and affected by HIV & AIDS. It is also devoted to creating an enabling environment for marginalised groups including women living with disabilities, orphan and vulnerable children and others deemed at risk for HIV.