The effect of the crime and indicate which institutions are most effective in dealing and

how are the institutions differ

Domestic violence - the economic cost of it - the media(institution)

Studies show that increasing and escalating rates of violence prominently exist among
Caribbean family and intimate relationships. As known to many, the social and cultural
norms that underscore gendered disparities within Caribbean societies
disproportionately increases the risk of violence for women and children. With general
knowledge surrounding these issues within Caribbean communities and across its
Diaspora, the scientific literature lacks critical in-depth analysis of the risks and
consequences of violence, along with important steps in curbing this social and public
health concern that continues to impact the lives and well-being of individuals who
experience higher than usual victimisation rates. This manuscript highlights historical
perspectives, theories, prevalence, risks and consequences of violence among
Caribbean descendants. The article further proposes recommendations for prevention
and intervention measures that might be useful in addressing the escalating rate of
violence within the family and relationship contexts.

In some cases, this violence is accompanied by emotional violence, and breaking this
cycle is more difficult when there is also economic dependence. Recent studies
conducted in Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago indicate
that 27-40% of women reported to have experienced violence at the hands of their
partners (UNFPA). The consequences of domestic violence are many, and the costs to
society are enormous. They range from direct, immediate and long-term effects on the
physical and mental health of the victims to a reduction in their productivity. This
reduction affects not only the female victims but also the aggressors, with their
workplace absenteeism and accident rate increasing after an episode of violence (World
Bank, 2014). Domestic violence increases the possibility that children who witness
violence at home will grow up to be either aggressors or victims.

Though it is generally given less attention than sexual assault, domestic violence is
quite often depicted in corporate media products, including news broadcasts, television
shows, and films. Mediated depictions of domestic violence share many of the same
problems as those of sexual assault. In particular, the media tends to imply that women
are somehow culpable when they are being beaten, even murdered, by their partners.
News on domestic violence is often reported in a routine manner that focuses on
minutiae instead of context, informing audiences minimally about the nature, extent, and
causes of domestic violence.
Though it is encouraging that over the past several decades the media has begun to
acknowledge that domestic violence is a serious problem, this recognition is challenged
by antifeminist claims-making in the media. Such challenges generally cite contested
social science research as proof that feminist research on domestic violence is biased
and inaccurate.

Furthermore, media representations of domestic violence often supply racializing and

class-biassed discourses about abusers and their victims that frame domestic violence
as largely the product of marginalised classes, rather a problem that affects the various
strata of society. Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, media coverage of the violence against
women abroad, particularly in Islamic nations, has provided more racializing discourse,
which juxtaposes “progressive” Western cultures with “backward” Eastern ones.

St. Lucia has established similar measures, creating a women’s support centre and a
24-hour hotline which offers counselling. It has also strengthened court protection
orders, but domestic violence island wide is still through the roof. In St. Lucia, the
national newspaper The Voice reported in 2010 that domestic violence was now a
primary cause of murders on the island.

On the domestic front, news focusing on indigenous communities replicates some of the
racism inherent in the orientalist gaze applied to domestic violence abroad. Generally,
the media do a poor job of cultivating a sophisticated understanding of domestic
violence among the public. Thus, many researchers argue such media representations
constitute a hegemonic patriarchal ideology, which obfuscates the issue of domestic
violence, as well as the underlying social relations that create the phenomenon.

Representative of the UN Women’s Multi Country Office for the Caribbean, Tonni Ann
Brodber. Addressing the topic of ‘The Impact of COVID-19 on Domestic Violence in the
Caribbean’ during a virtual joint meeting of the Rotary Club of Barbados and the Rotary
Club of Central Port of Spain recently, she referred to the survey which was conducted
in Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, indicating that
Barbados has not yet had a prevalence survey done, but it is something that they would
like to see come to fruition in this country as well as across the rest of Eastern
Caribbean.

In that survey, which she explained was completed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, it
was revealed that 39% of the women in Grenada have experienced some form of
intimate partner violence over their lifetime and 12 per cent stated that they had
experienced it within the past 12 months, which for the purpose of the data was
considered current. The figures in Jamaica, she noted, were similar, with 39 per cent
stating that they experienced intimate partner violence in their lifetime and 13 per cent
said theirs was current.

In 2007 St. Vincent had the third-highest rate of reported rapes in the world, according
to a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report.That said, it is important to
recognize and understand the far reaching impact that neoliberalism's recent economic
transformations of the countryside has had on Caribbean families, and why such
incidents of domestic violence are on the rise.