Reflective

BREAKING FREE

The wind howled as Abigail Jacobs, who was then, Mrs.Peterson glanced into her past as she

looked through the window of her bedroom. It was five years in her marriage and her husband

had become a stranger. Bound by her Christianity, she looked at the contradicting memories of

the before and then.

Abby had such great regret. Her husband turned out to be a ‘beata man’, also a drunkard, even

a smoker, everything she despised. Furthermore he verbally abused her countless times in front

of friends, and family even her church family.

“Hi honey”,said Abby with a smile,

“Lata”said Robert with a deep schould on his forehead,

He marched through the door.She hated it, “only if mi did know” was a phrase repeated many

times. She was at the breaking point in her marriage, everything was chaotic, and she needed to

ease the pain. She strongly believed life wasn’t worth living.

There were nightly departures from their bedroom with her clothes drenched in tears of regret,

her eyes sagged from crying.It Was her husband’s ritual to come home drunk and she ended up

the victim of the situation.In addition to this , thoughts of suicide lingered across her mind many

times, she had the desire to die.

It was her Christian faith that helped her resist the urge. On an early sunny Saturday morning

Maria went to the grocery store to avoid the afternoon rush. She wore long clothes and dark

shades to cover her scars. She was a light skinned Jamaican with a body to die for, a radiant

smile and the intelligence to go with it. She was everything a man could ever want, a complete

package as the neighborhood boys would say. She walked in slowly.Suddenly a loud voice

called out to her,

“Abby, how are you.? Its Peter,” he said with strong eye contact,

“Ooh, gosh Peta mi old schoolmate”she said hugging him,

“Yes! Yes! How you been”

“Mi good man “

“wait,this is not you,Miss prim and proper.! You would never use a word in patwa.”

“Things change,”Abby said hanging her head remembering how she thought Jamaican Creole

was coarse.”

“So why are you clothed in such a manner its a hot day”

“I have to go “ she said hanging her head. Peter looked at her in amazement, sexy, elegant

Abby was no more, stress took a toll on her beauty, she was now suffering great weight loss

because there was no desire for food anymore.The little she ate always came up. All the stress
and depression with no one to confide in to because of her husband had caused her to neglect

friends and family. All alone in her situation, she expressed herself by screaming into pillows

and burning her husband's garments.These actions eased the pain but didn’t cure it. She

eventually gave up on church “God doesn’t care ”she said to herself.

Her situation worsened , depression was at its maximum, her hair began to fall out. She

hated herself and what she had become for her husband. She wanted him out of her life, dead.

She put up a picture of him every afternoon and sliced the neck until he was no longer

recognizable from the neck down. Something out of the normal happened when, her husband

made dramatic entrance.

He pulled up suddenly in their driveway and opened the car door with great urgency as he hastily

made his way to the door. This was unusual . She quickly tried to hide the knife as he pulled the

door, she forgot about the picture hanging from the door.

“Good evening Honey”, she looking directly at his face.

“Get outa mi way, Bitch!”he said.

“Where is my dinner?”

She didn’t reply. He made his way to the kitchen hissing like an angry snake. Nothing was

there only the smell of white rum on his breath. Roberto turned and stormed his way out of the
kitchen going toward the living room like a herd of angry elephants ‘Bang !Bang!’ with his

temper flaring like a volcano.

He slapped her continuously until chills rang from her head to her spine. She felled to the

ground with her eyes open motionless but not dead. Roberto stepped over her and made his way

to his earthly heaven, the bar. Abby laid there , tears ran from her eyes, “Dis relationship nuh

worth fi dead fa” were the words that echoed through her subconscious.

Approximately fifteen minutes later her strength returned and she made her way to the police

station and took out a restraining order after she told them her story.

“Madam , how long have you been tolerating these conditions ?”asked Officer Bennett,

“It has been five years sir,”said Abby.

“Five years! Five years! The worst is behind you now, mam.”

They offered her a place to stay under their protection. She started looking after her divorce

papers, after three years period of great anticipation, her marriage came to an end. She smiled .

It’s was a long time in that relationship and it was time to end it.
 GENERAL INTRODUCTION

The theme “The issue of Domestic Violence in the writers community” is often ignored in

society and this is evident in the writers community.This also gives the writer the urge to find

out why,thus making it the theme for my portfolio.Women are in most cases the dominant

victims of this issue where they become timid, suffering from low self esteem as they

often face feelings of having no value to society.The writer therefore sought to investigate the

effects of domestic violence on young women between age 18-25 in the community of Kemps

Hill.It is not surprising that in the writers research where (65%) of respondents say the abuse

exist because of jealousy.Furthermore others (25%) of others believe it is because of poor anger

management skills.However the investigation was carried out distributing questionnaires in the

community randomly as this would allow the findings to be objective. The purpose for selecting

this theme is to reach out to women specifically those who are victims of spousal abuse to give

them comfort and assurance that they are valuable members of society as they are needed to

mould the minds of tomorrow and accepting spousal abuse would not allow them to execute

this task effectively. Therefore this a very serious issue .This theme is strongly related to

candidate’s work related interest as he will like to produce novels on how to solve problems that

arise from relationships without the act of domestic violence, giving women alternatives and

possible solutions to the problem.The writer is also does sociology ,which will allow him to explore
social issues such as domestic violence. The theme is also related strongly to the writers personal

interest as he has been, a witness of the act of Spousal abuse .The writer wishes to curve,

if not relinquish the cycle

PREFACE
The writers aim for writing this piece of literature is speak out against ‘domestic violence’ and

to let perpetrators know that , it is not accepted. The writer also seeks to bring out ,the

impact on the individual and how it destroys, its victims not only physically but also

mentally.Furthermore to raise the level of awareness on the different types of domestic

violence like sexual assault ,intimidation and even name calling or put downs which are

portrayed in the writers piece. My goal is to sensitize pre-university and university students ,

both gender between the ages of 17-40 or even the public in general about domestic violence.

This writer also aims to highlight the causes of domestic violence and effects and to

give possible solutions.This piece will not only educate individuals about the act but

gives them strength and sense of elevation.This piece would be presented in public setting for

women empowerment and motivation against the fight against domestic violence.
 EXPOSITION

Domestic violence

According to (www.domesticviolence.org) domestic violence and emotional abuse are

behaviours used by one persons in a relationship to control the other in my research which

focuses on individuals in the age group 18-25 (65%) of respondents says it is because of

jealousy .Partners may be married or not married;heterosexual,gay,or lesbian;living together

,separated or dating.Somee.g of this which are evident in today’s society

are;stalking,sexualassault,intimidation or even name calling or put downs.

In reference to (www.redcarcleveland.gov.UK) ask the question is domestic violence a

cause of stress in my research which focus on age group 18-25 (50%) of respondents agreed it

is caused by depression.Furthermore it states domestic violence is learned intentional behaviour

in my research (20%) of respondents agreed to poor anger management skills, rather than the

consequences of stress,individual pathology,substance use or “dysfunctional”

relationship.Perpetrators of the act frequently avoid taking responsibility for their

behaviour,by blaming their violent nice behaviour on someone or something else,denying it took

place at all minimizing their behaviour.

Research shows that violent men are most likely to perpetrate violence in response to

their own sexual jealousy and possessiveness;their demands for domestic services,so they carried
out this act as a demonstrate male authority.In addition many people who abuse alcohol or

drugs may use this an excuse for their behaviour saying “I was drunk”or’I don’t

remember”.Even if they genuinely don’t remember what they did,it doesn’t remove

responsibility for their behaviour.The internet source (www.redcarcleveland.gov.UK) is highly

reliable because it is an accredited body which carries out numerous investigations.It is also valid

because of its results which are used worldwide.

According to (Jamaica-Gleaner.com) published Thursday April 15,2010,it is obvious

from recent statistics that Jamaica is having a problem with domestic violence control.The

victim support unit (VSU) in portmore,St.Catherine,has reported that since 2005,a total of

22,739 cases of violence in 2007,29.2 per cent rise over the previous year.”Women are more

vulnerable to becoming victims of domestic violence,as the seven groups which fell under the

(VSU) are rape,carnal abuse,incest,attempted rape,indecent assault,domestic violence and

murder”said carol palmer,permanent secretary in Ministers of Justice.It is clear,however,that the

Ministry of Justice has itself failed to shield women from abusive and violent men by not

implementing appropriate measures to protect them.The information from the Jamaica gleaner

is highly reliable as it gives accurate information that is consistent, and is at the forefront of

the public because of this.

 However there are ways to prevent domestic violence according to ( WHO) The World

Health Organisation latest report on violence against women that was release in June 2013

indicated that in some regions of the world,over 35% of women suffer from partner

violence.One of such is the intervention of neighbours and the wider community is one of key

methods to stopping domestic violence,if the matter is to be slowed down or stopped.

Some challenges faced by the researcher in carrying out this research is that respondents

particularly female tend to be selective with there answers.In addition the researcher

encountered a problem in the data collection period where respondents took lengthy period to

give back questionnaires.This delay slowed down the data collection process and slowed down

the research if the researcher didn’t encounter this problem the research would be down more

promptly.

LANGUAGE ANALYSIS
 In The reflective piece “BREAKING FREE” outlines the life of young lady who has

become a victim of domestic violence.The story highlights of her struggles and how she deals

with the rising challenges.It also gives other women who are victims courage that they can

overcome their situation if they are willing to take a stand against the act.In this piece of writing

the writer include all the linguistic criteria ,Language registers,Dialect variations,Communicative

behaviours and Attitudes to language.However the writer will be analyzing the following

two;Communicative behaviours along Dialectal variation.

In the narrative the Dialectal variation ranges from Standard English to

Jamaican creole .Evidence of Jamaican Creole is expressions such as Roberto’s “lata”

where a replaces the ‘er’ ending.In addition his “Get out a mi way bitch” indicates the one word

“outa” replacing two words out of ;the personal pronoun ‘Mi’ replacing my which is also the

case in Maria’s”Oh gosh mi old schoolmate”.In her use of the expression “Mi good man”,the

same personal pronoun is used for I(am).Standard English expressions is obvious in the

conversation between the police officer and Maria where they both use grammatically correct

sentences, adhering to the subject and verb agreement.

The variation in dialect shows different situations which trigger different behaviours.
 The piece is also contains a variety of communicative behaviours , for example, Maria

“smiles” with her husband it shows her love and compassion towards him. However, his

response is the total opposite where he has “deep scowl in his forehead”, this is indicating

tension as he is upset with Maria and so abuses her. In another situation Maria’s “eye contact”

shows that she is in a moment of disbelief so she stares at her old classmate, Peter. Soon after she

confirms it is humans so she hugs him. This shows familiarity, which depicts a friendly

atmosphere. On her second confrontation with her husband Robert. She fixes her eyes in him to

create a diversion of his attention from the knife she is hiding. This works in Maria’s favour as

his attention is diverted as he once more has a “Deep scowl on his forehead” when as he requests

his dinner. The writer captures all four linguistic criteria keeping his readers entertained through

out. Where maria said “hi honey” shows she approach her husband with a great amount of

respect,this respect she had for him was out of fear because of the abuse as the story

shows.Furthermore where her husband Roberto said “ Lata” this is evidence of Jamaican creole

which is mostly consist of English words.It is clear here that Roberto choose to use creole to

answer his wife to very effective in being repulsive as creole is able to give that stronger impact

rather than standard English as creole brings with it a more effective tone.In addition where

Maria exclaimed “ Ooh gosh mi old school mate” it gives the impression of a cheerful tone as

she haven’t seen her classmate for some period of time,as you can see there is a mixture of

Jamaican creole and Standard English the expression could be seen as a Bilingual expression.In
the where Maria replied to peter saying “ mi good man” shows evidence of Jamaican creole

through the answer where “mi” was used instead of I,this is a personal pronoun in Jamaican

creole.The variations in dialect shows different situations exist in this piece as each situation

when Maria addressed her husband saying Good evening honey” shows a neutral tone being as

polite as she can while on the other side her husband's response was “Get outta mi way

bitch,where is my dinner” a rather very repulsive way of answering his wife,where he choose to

use Jamaican creole again getting the message across,he was angry as the tone

indicated.However when maria reported the act of abuse to a police officer he addressed her

politely with a cheerful tone where he says” Madam how long have you being tolerating these

conditions” portraying a positive attitude which can stimulate the conversation where he could

comfort her.She respond to his question was “ It has been five years sir”this response influence

the reader to say she said this with a sad tone,his response was “ Five years…!!” he exclaimed

beyond his believe in a sad tone.

The piece is also contains a variety of communicative behaviours like where Maria

“smile” with her husband showing love and compassion towards him.However is response was

the total opposite where is facial expression turned into “deep should on his forehead”, this

indicating tension as, he was upset with his marriage which his the reason for abusing Maria.In

another situation Maria gave “Strong eye contact” showing ,she was in a moment of disbelieve

as she stared to see if,it was really her old classmate Peter.A little after she confirmed it was him
she “ Hugged” him show familiarity,which depicts a friendly atmosphere.On her second

confrontation with her husband Robert “Strong eye contact” was used again this time there

answer much greater tension as she tried to divert his attention to her rather than the knife she

was hiding.Roberto however took the bait as his attention was diverted as his facial structure

change once more in a “Deep should on his forehead” as he requested his dinner. In the piece

of literature the writer captures the four linguistic criteria keeping his readers entertained
Name of candidate: Abigail Loney

Candidate Number:

School: Lacovia High School

Center Number:

Unit:
 Appendix

Jamaica: Domestic violence, including legislation, state protection and support services available

(2010-2013)

Publisher Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

Publication Date 20 January 2014

Citation / Document Symbol JAM104717.E

Related Document(s) Jamaïque : information sur la violence conjugale, y compris les lois, la

protection offerte par l'État et les services de soutien (2010-2013)

Cite as Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Jamaica: Domestic violence,

including legislation, state protection and support services available (2010-2013), 20 January

2014, JAM104717.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/52eb9bf94.html [accessed 7

January 2019]

Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it

necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher

and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

1. Background
In June 2013, the UN Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Committee expressed "its profound

concern at high rates of domestic and sexual violence" in Jamaica (UN, 10 June 2013, para.19).

In a June 2011 report to the UN Economic and Social Council on Jamaica's implementation of

the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the government of Jamaica

itself states that "[t]here is an unacceptable high level of violence against women and children" in

the country (Jamaica 14 June 2011, para. 87).

Other sources state that violence against women is "widespread" (Freedom House 2013; US 8

Apr. 2011, 18). Amnesty International (AI) similarly states that sexual violence against women

and girls remains a concern in Jamaica (2013). The US Country Reports on Human Rights

Practices for 2012 adds that "violence against women, including spousal abuse," is perpetuated

by "[s]ocial and cultural norms" (US 19 Apr. 2013, 16). Corroboration of the statement by the

Country Reports 2012 could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research

Directorate.The Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2010 states that "many women

were reluctant to acknowledge or report abusive behaviour, leading to wide variations in

estimates of its extent" (ibid. 8 Apr. 2011, 18). The Gleaner, a Kingston, Jamaica, daily

newspaper, reports that in March 2013, an attorney and women's rights activist likewise

indicated, while speaking at a Kingston luncheon organized for International Women's Day, that

Jamaican women "fail to seek help" due to "fear, ignorance of the law and embarrassment" and that

"many women only seek help when the circumstances are dire" (10 Mar. 2013).In a response provided
in February 2012 to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

(CEDAW), the government of Jamaica stated that the Jamaica Constabulary Force is not able to

provide data on the number of women killed annually by their husbands, intimate partners or ex-

husbands because "the information is not disaggregated in this manner" (Jamaica 8 Feb. 2012,

para. 7). However, in the same response, the Jamaican government provided information on

intimate partner violence (IPV) taken from a 2008 reproductive health survey conducted by the

National Family Planning Board using a "nationally representative sample of 8,259 women aged

15-49" (ibid.). According to the survey, of the women with partners who were surveyed,

Mon | Jan 7, 2019

Still Suffering In Silence - Women Refusing To Report Incidents Of Domestic Violence Despite

Calls To Speak Up

Published:Sunday | July 1, 2018 | 12:44 AMCorey Robinson

File

A victim of domestic abuse sharing her story with The Sunday Gleaner.

One in every five Jamaican women who experience physical or sexual abuse from their intimate

partners stays silent about the incident, despite efforts to get them to speak up and the

international example being set by groups such as the #MeToo movement.

That is one of the findings of a recently released 2016 study conducted by social researcher Carol

Watson Williams and co-published by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica, the Inter-American

Development Bank (IDB) and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the

Empowerment of Women.

The researcher canvassed 1,340 females between ages 15 and 64 and found that just over 18 per

cent of the abused women told no one about the violence, while the majority of those who

decided to speak up confided in friends.

Fewer than 20 per cent of the women reported the abuse to the police.
“More than one-third of women confided in their mother (35.1 per cent), 27.8 per cent told

siblings and 19.1 per cent confided in neighbours,” said the study, which also found that many of

the abused women believe that violence between husbands and wives is a private matter.

“Women who had entered into a live-in partner relationship at an early age (under 19 years) had

a higher prevalence of lifetime intimate partner physical violence (45 per cent) compared with

24.5 per cent for those who had entered into such relationships at age 19 or older,” the study

revealed.

Last week, Pastor Carla Dunbar of the Praise Sanctuary Church of God of Prophecy agreed that

young women who enter into early relationship are more likely to be abused by their partners.

But Dunbar said more women are confiding in religious leaders to help them bear their crosses.

“I don’t think, though, that persons who come to me do so because of my academic qualification.

I think they do so because I am a pastor who opened up her story and was vulnerable on a

national level to share her own experiences,” said Dunbar, who had been in an abusive

relationship for years.

According to Dunbar, there are several reasons why women opt to stay silent about their abuse

but financial obligations tend to be the main one.

“In our Jamaican context, it is the whole financial aid. This abusive person is still the one paying

the rent and providing the food and the sense of security. Fear is also another factor why persons

don’t say anything,” said Dunbar.

One of the abused women, Shelly-Ann* of Maverley in St Andrew, told The Sunday Gleaner

that she has been living with an abusive partner for 15 years and she does not know when she

will muster the courage to tell friends or family about it.

“It started out with something minor, like him holding and jerking me, but then it got to be more

than that, more physical, like punches. Then days later he would come with the ‘I’m sorry’, and

he would do the most like buy stuff, be really nice and do everything,” said Shelly-Ann.

She said she has stayed silent because her mother doesn’t like her partner and she does not want

to prove her mother’s suspicions correct.

According to Shelly-Ann, she also cannot face the criticisms which would come from friends

who would be upset that she has stayed in the abusive relationship for so long.

SOME HELPLINES FOR ABUSED WOMEN

WOMEN’S CRISIS CENTRE – 876-929-2997/876-926-9398

CHILD ABUSE and TRAFFICKING – TOLL FREE 1 (888) 776-8328 (PROTECT)

THE HELPLINES (for parents & children) – TOLL FREE 1 (888) 429-5273 (KARE) 9AM – 4

p.m.

POLICE – TOLL FREE 119

CISOCA (Police unit for child abuse and sex crimes with some level witness protection) – 876-

926-407
 Conclusion

My portfolio improved and shaped my thinking of being more careful and attentive to persons

around me to know if they are being abused. In the process of doing my research it help me to

understand that words are important and it can be used as a tool to abuse person just as how

physical abuse hurt them. This research will strengthen my critical thinking , oral and written

expression skills.

Bibliography
Reflection...................................................................................................................................................1

General

Introduction.....................................................................................................................................2

Preface..........................................................................................................................................................3

Exposition.....................................................................................................................................................4

Language Analysis.......................................................................................................................................5

Appendix......................................................................................................................................................6

Conclusion....................................................................................................................................................7