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Femicide in Jamaica Glendene Lemard, PhD Research Assistant Professor University of Massachusetts...
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Transcript of Femicide in Jamaica Glendene Lemard, PhD Research Assistant Professor University of Massachusetts...
Femicide in Jamaica
Glendene Lemard, PhDResearch Assistant Professor
University of Massachusetts [email protected]
413-545-2379
Murder Capital of the World
Homicide Rates per 100,000 persons…
World 8
Americas 19
United States 4
Jamaica’s homicide rate in 2005 was 64 per 100,000 persons
METHODSMETHODS• Review of police reports on homicides 1998-2002
•Find trends
•Bi-variate analyses conducted to find significant trends
•PROCESS
•IMPLICATIONS
Femicide in Jamaica
• Very different from male homicides
• Prior to 1998 data not disaggregated by gender
• Overshadowed by male homicide figures
Homicide in JamaicaHomicide in JamaicaVictim Demographics
89 91
11 9
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1998-2002 2007
Victim Sex
Percent
Male Female
Femicide data in Jamaica
• Majority of homicides are reported to the police
• Police capture figures from the case narratives that are important– Gender (since 1998)– Weapon– Motive– Location– Age
Motive for homicide by Victim Sex 1998-2002
MOTIVE Male Female
Count Rate Count Rate
Dispute 1174 27% 227 44%
Reprisal 1336 31% 143 27%
Robbery 613 14% 56 11%
Drugs/Gang 948 22% 49 9%
Rape 3 -- 27 5%
Other 276 6% 20 4%
Total 4350 100% 522 100%
Motive for Homicide
“Other” includes mob killings, police criminal confrontation, unknown
Policy based on motive will overlook key issue with femicide: DISPUTE
Implement Used (2007)
Implement Used
70
15
3
12
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Gun Knife Machete Others
Implement
Percent of femicide cases
Age of murder victims
• Data from 2007– Minimum age (months
old)– Maximum age (90)– Average age (30)– Most common age
(21)
Police Classification
• Definitions– Unwritten– Normative “just understood”
• Motive– Domestic violence versus dispute
• Location unclear• Data not disaggregated into useful
categories• Much useful data not coded
Graph 5 -20: Location of Murders Classified by Police 1998 -2002 Location of Murder (Police)
.3%
.4%
62.1%
35.7%
1.5%
Other
Open Lot
Street
Premises
Home
Graph 5 -21: Location of Murders Reclassified from the Narrative 1998 -2002 Location of Murder (Circumstances)
Undetermined/Premise
Open lot
Countryside/River/Se
Farm
Residential/Penal
Industrial/Construct
Sports/Athletic
Commercial
Street/Roadway
School
Home
17.3%
15.1%
56.6%
Police Classification Home: 1.5%
ReclassificationHome: 15.1%
Police classification of location is not
sufficient
Homicide Location
(Males)
•12% Home
•59% Street
•6% Commercial
•0.8% Open lot
•17% Undetermined
Location of Homicide
Victim-Perpetrator Relationship
Rape-related femicide
• Information from narrative• Seem to suggest stranger
rape– Violent rape…strangulation
etc
• Lack of investigation on serial nature of rapes
• Age of the victims important
• More research needed
Typical cases from narrativeVictim was at home asleep with her common-law husband
when a group of men armed with guns kicked open the front door of house, entered and fired shots hitting victim all over
her body. She was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead by the doctor
Victim was at home sleeping when a group of men armed with guns fired shots inside the house hitting
victim all over her body. The men then threw explosives inside the house causing a fire. Victim
was pronounced dead at the hospital
Number of Assailants (2007)Number of Assailants in Incident
41
5
21
33
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
1 2 3 or more Unknown
Number of Assailants
Percent of Femicide
Intimate Partner Violence
The victim was at home talking to her boyfriend when her ex-boyfriend came there kicked off a side door and
opened fire on the victim hitting her in her left side. Her boyfriend ran and escaped through a back door.
Victim was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Victim and accused who is her boyfriend had a dispute during which he used a knife to slash her throat. She was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced
dead by the doctor on duty
What we know
AgeMotive (basic)CircumstancesWeaponLocation37% of suspects arrested
10% of females
What we don’t knowVictim-perpetrator relationship
Motives for reprisals
Motives for executions
Correlations motive and weapon
SuspectsGroups of men? Why?
Information from Interviews
• Changing gender relations• Women and children increasingly targeted in
reprisal killings• Indirect links to the drug trade and gang activity• Love triangles are a problem• Females sometimes kill females• Disputes get out of hand
Recommendations
• More in depth research on circumstances
• Examine cases of in-direct abuse
• Strengthen systematic surveillance
• Training of police force• Use data on femicide to
target interventions
Acknowledgements
• Statistics Unit of the Jamaica Police Force• Dr. Anthony Harriott at the University of the West Indies• Dr. David Hemenway at Harvard School of Public Health• Ms. Julaine Richardson of the Jamaica Police Force• Mr. Gordon Wright of the Jamaica Police Force• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention