Families urged to seek help as domestic violence increases
(CNS): Police have raised concerns over a significant increase in domestic violence in the Cayman Islands. Officers have responded to a number of domestic incidents this December, many of which have been violent. Twelve incidents were reported in just one weekend this month, at the end of a year where there has been a 44% rise in violence in the home. The police and the Cayman Islands Crisis Centre are particularly concerned about the children who witness this abuse and are urging people to seek help to prevent tense situations from escalating.
A spokesperson for the RCIPS said there is a “zero tolerance” policy in place to guide the response of officers to such incidents. Where officers have cause to suspect a crime has taken place, positive action must be taken, and an arrest could result, whether or not the victim decides to pursue a complaint.
Between 16 and 19 December three arrests were made in connection with three separate domestic incidents. Two men and one woman were taken into custody, illustrating that abuse and violence in the home can be perpetrated by women as well as men.
“It is important to remember that domestic violence refers to any violent or aggressive behaviour within the home between partners or family members,” said DS Michelle Miller, Acting Head of the Family Support Unit. “Sometimes men or older relatives are victims. Whatever happens in the home and whoever the abuser may be, it is children who witness abuse and can be the most scarred by it. We must be aware of all the forms that domestic violence can take if we are to address it or prevent it.”
The RCIPS partners with the Crisis Centre and the Family Resource Centre to prevent and raise awareness about domestic violence and help with training for law enforcement and the public.
Ania Milanowska, Executive Director of the Cayman Islands Crisis Centre, said that the increase in incidents could be accounted for by an increase in reporting but that it is common for the centre to see a rise in the numbers of women seeking a safe place at this time of year.
“Tensions about finances can run high during the holiday season. What is critical for both partners to know – or at least be willing to learn – is how to de-escalate these situations and get help when needed,” she said.
Anyone who is being affected by domestic violence should reach out for help.
The 24-Hour Crisis Centre Hotline can be reached at 943-2422
The Family Resource Centre can be reached at 949-0006 during business hours
In an emergency, always call 911
The Crisis Centre is also opening new offices in Crown Square on Eastern Avenue in January 2017 which will offer services to all in the community, both men and women, seeking help to deal with domestic issues.
Category: Crime, Local News
Interesting to know the nationality of these incidents lol
PPM just extended Liquor hours that should lessen the domestic assaults and reports because they will hopeful passout at the bar and not make it home to beat their spouse. Wife beating is favourite pastime for some nationalities who reside here all part of the wonderful diversity. Down with PPM & the UK and there heathen polices.
husband beating is a common pastime for all nationalities here….
Wake up Cayman! This is the norm in many other countries. As the population increases and more diverse population turn up on our shores, the problem will get even worse. Yes, there are selfishness, greed, lack of respect etc which contribute to this epidemic but the Cayman family norm is nonexistent.
Ephesians 5:22-24
22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. The wife must respect her husband.
“Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.”- 1 Timothy 2:11-15.
The problem is clearly a lack of respect for men from women since they’re clearly the deceived and transgressor. Women must be submissive and the Lord permits no woman to teach or exercise authority over a man. This is the problem with our generation and society today. Women lack self control and respect for men and Gods law. Women please read your bibles and have some respect. This is a Christian nation and no marriage is complete without following Gods word. We didn’t write the bible so if you have any complaints take it up with the author.
Most domestic abuse cases in the Cayman Islands are men abusing women.
Let me give you some excerpts from the same bible you should consider going forward:
Ephesians 5:21
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
John 13:34
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
Philippians 2:3
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.
Proverbs 22:2
Rich and poor have this in common: The LORD is the Maker of them all.
Leviticus 19:33-34
When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
Lastly…..
Song of Solomon 1:1-3; Ephesians 5:22-33
…Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them (your wives) according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.
I hope you find this information useful and understand that man must respect and adore his wife as she should him in return….it works both ways….
God bless.
Deuteronomy 25:11-12
You left this one out, I got your back though. This should clearify the appropiate response to some of the domestic disputes under the circumstance of genital grabbing. No fine, no prison, just chop her hand off in the name of the Lord, hallelujah. Remember to show no pity, your judgement derives from the direct word of God. You can do no evil with the grace of the Lord.
11 If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, 12 you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity.
“Most domestic abuse cases in the Cayman Islands are men abusing women”
This is an inaccurate statement. Unfortunately, discriminatory policies by the authorities, zero effective tracking of statistics, failure to release the current statistics that are available and discriminatory comments by groups like the Crisis Centre simply fuel this false narrative.
The truth hurts, but women as bad or quite possibly far more abusive in this jurisdiction.
We humans DID write the Bible….now a book of fables used by churches to control impressionable masses…” Wives submit yourselves to your husbands…” Really?
Sorry we aren’t the Christian nation we used to be. Need to be upgraded now. I say we are equal human beings ! Just that many men and some women at times want to use physical force or abuse mentally. Seek help, the kids are watching.
I believe that is some men and most women.
Thank you for so clearly explaining the roots of domestic abuse: religious fundamentalism.
You are a complete idiot.
Said every wife beater hiding behind his bible.
As someone who suffered from extreme domestic violence at the hands of a Caymanian, not Jamaican, I am concerned about the support any abused person will receive from the system. The police were at my house multiple times and could have arrested my abuser. I was not ready to press charges because I thought I was in love but I had to call the police to stay alive. What I’ve found out since is that my abuser was on probation for assaulting other woman. Every time the police came to my house they could have arrested him for violating his conditions of bail but they didn’t. When I finally had enough courage to press charges the courts let me down. No one informed me when he was granted parole and I was asked to leave the court room when I attended. Since being asked to leave I’ve sent numerous emails to both the crown prosecutor and the arresting office but no one responds. What I know for sure is he is free and will abuse another woman.
Pick a better man.
Has any politician or senior civil servant ever been arrested and convicted on domestic abuse charges?
Has any politician or senior civil servant been arrested and convicted for sexual assault charges?
No one in government talks about these things and the prevalent sexual assault on youngsters the question is why?
Because they’re dirty ol’ bastards who condone this behaviour!
You be careful watcher, you may step on some big feet and they will silence you if necessary. Stay vigilant.
XXXXX beats his wife. I don’t expect you to publish this. But how to help her? I used to work with her and see her come to work covered with long sleeves or turtle necked shirts to cover the bruises.
She won’t press charges. She won’t leave. This has been going on as long as I’ve lived on island -15 years but since she won’t press charges, how to help her? How do you help someone that does not want help?
CNS: Please understand that we cannot name the person you are talking about because of the risk of litigation. However, I’m going to send a slightly modified version of your question to Auntie, though it won’t be answered now until the New Year.
And isn’t it a so sad how many will correctly guess who this XXX likely represents. It seems so widely known from what I have seen. Just discussed openly as a matter of fact. It’s disgusting.
Various stories over the years of not only bruises but broken bones (plural from multiple events!) and private doctor house calls for care that would normally be provided at a hospital… but to go would be to expose the truth… well formally that is.
I hope that one day she will be strong enough to leave him. But from the looks of it… Not likely.
It’s a disgrace on so many levels.
cayman full of stress. but still no excuse to beat a woman. they cant help it. it was eve that first sinned? men, if you cant make it with a woman- simple leave?
did you just suggest that it’s ok for women to beat men? you need help and to get off the internet. who do you think is beating the children in this country?
I would wager 90% of the women in the Cayman Islands have physically assaulted a partner within the past year, and probably closer to 100% have mentally and verbally abused their partner.
As long as you believe that adam and eve story, there is no solution.
It is the reason why this is a mens world.
When an expat demonstrates a propensity to violence, at what point are immigration informed?
When a Caymanian exhibits a propensity for violence at what point are their church brethren and sisters involved ?
When there is a dead victim and they read about it in the paper.
Whilst domestic violence is experienced by both genders and by all nationalities, from my observation, a lot of young Caribbean girls on this Island suffer from extreme low self esteem and expose themselves to guys who screw around on them early on in relationship, treating those girls like a possession rather than a partner and in general just taking advantage of them. I have never gotten my head around why these girls think that they need a man in their life in order to succeed and why they would put up with this even prior to marriage (not saying it is ok for it to be happening during marriage).
To all victims of domestic violence, it is not your fault!!!! This does not need to be your destiny, you did not do anything to deserve this – NOBODY deserves this!! Get help – it will not get automatically or magically better on its own, no matter what your abuser is promising you!!
As a general advise – if you have issues in your relationship prior to getting married, they will only multiply and magnify during marriage and get much much worse once a child comes into the picture. Marriage and having children are NEVER the solution or relationship issues.
Its a Jamaican ting, if you do like it den leave Cayman Islands…wait…
This does not make sense… Only 3 arrests? what happened to the 9 other arrests that the RCIPS should have made?
“Twelve incidents were reported in just one weekend this month, at the end of a year where there has been a 44% rise in violence in the home.
A spokesperson for the RCIPS said there is a “zero tolerance” policy in place to guide the response of officers to such incidents and where they suspect a crime has taken place, the suspects will be arrested, even if a domestic violence victim decides not to pursue a complaint.”
Some police officers beat their wives too sooooooo, what are we expecting exactly?
This does not appear to be in force “A spokesperson for the RCIPS said there is a “zero tolerance” policy in place to guide the response of officers to such incidents and where they suspect a crime has taken place, the suspects will be arrested, even if a domestic violence victim decides not to pursue a complaint.”
Acting head Michelle Miller and her detectives, are accustomed to ignoring the female abusers. The DPP are also accustomed to deliberately failing to pursue criminal applications against women.
Curious how many women will get away with their abusive behaviour this holiday season, either because the men are too afraid to report, or the police and dpp fail at their jobs.
Another wonderful imported Jamaican cultural trait of men and women not taking care of their kids is what has led to the breakdown of the family and an increase in domestic abuse and crime here in Cayman. Baby Mama is a fun Hollywood term to cover up irresponsibility that forces us all to pick up the slack. It does not take a community to lay off the responsibility of child rearing to an abstract commune, it takes a group of responsible parents who are willing to lay down well defined boundaries and rules for children.
I wager that every Jamaican man that has a Caymanian woman, did not have to club her over the head to impregnate or marry her. I’m sure all he had to do was tell “she a pretty gal”.
This is a direct result of the 3% growth the PPM is claiming our economy grew Yes Cayman the science of crime defies the PPM rubbish theory. The rise you see in domestic violence can be tied or attributed to a number of economic factors which involves alcohol and drug abuse. One of the key factors is economic hardships in homes.But you see people the PPM and its members don’t suffer such things because all is well and all are happy in PPM lala land they are living large. Even the wives are happy although their flandering spouses are roaming our streets. But so long as the money $$$$ keeps rolling in and their social status keeps rising they and do quite well pretending all is blissful in the PPM winter wonderland.
the real rubbish theory is what you have set out in your comments
The Protection from Domestic Violence Bill 2010 empowers the court to
issue protection, occupation, tenancy and ancillary orders.
Anyone found guilty under the new law would be liable for a fine of $10,000 and/or imprisonment for two years. If court orders are not followed, further fines of $100 a day would be imposed for each day the breach continues.
Anthony Eden…announced (2010) the establishment of the advisory body that set
the groundwork for the new bill… DOES THIS ADVISORY BODY EXISTS? IF SO, WHAT DID IT ACCOMPLISH?
“During Friday’s debate (sometime in 2010) he said Mrs. Scott-Roberts “did not die in vain” because her death had prompted a series of events that led to this bill being created. ”
DID SHE?
HOw many more women had been killed, injured and mutilated since 2010? HO many children were sexually and physically abused?
“We are casting our net wide to ensure that some of the most vulnerable persons in our society, such as children, the elderly and physically and mentally disabled persons, are
protected,” Mr. Adam said (2010).
There is THE PROTECTION FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LAW, 2010
(LAW 33 OF 2010) in existence.
Who is responsible for implementing this law? Where administrative regulations explaining how to put this law into effect and/or what a citizen must do to comply with the law are? Is there a written step by step protocol on how law enforcement officials must respond to domestic violence ?
Don’t blame victims for refusing to press charges. This law was passed to bypass exactly that -victims refusing to press charges, and go directly after a perpetrator.
except when the perpetrator is a woman
Seriously, I know some women can be abusive but men are physically stronger (fact). Also, men should know that you can’t hit a woman but you CAN restrain her if she is being violent.
Definition of “retrain”: abstain from, desist from, hold back from…
So, restrain her until she is calm.
bee-hive, did you just suggest that women should be able to hit a man?
I believe it would be more appropriate to say “people should not hit people”.
Either you want equality, or you don’t want equality. Pick one. If you don’t believe that women should be legally accountable for their actions, then perhaps you should be advocating for certain Eastern cultures, that don’t allow women to drive, or restrict what they can do for work. That appears to be what you are suggesting, since the world can’t stop while a woman takes her time to “calm down”. I mean, I think you could agree that life does not and should not revolve around the emotional tantrums of a woman.
Perhaps, the best scenario is for criminal charges to start coming towards women. Currently a woman faces no (or very little) consequences for assaulting a man. Quick fact, in Cayman Brac they have seen a significant drop in domestic violence, because their head of police began doing exactly this.