Escalating domestic violence impacting St James churches

WESTERN BUREAU:

Domestic violence is emerging as an increasingly common issue confronting churches across St James, as pastors are routinely called upon to counsel people struggling with troubled relationships and family conflicts.

The Reverend Godfrey Francis, secretary of the St James Ministers Fraternal, said the pressures of modern life, coupled with poor communication and weak conflict resolution skills, were helping to fuel the problem, leaving churches to confront the fallout.

“The whole matter of domestic violence is really a major challenge for us and the society. As spiritual leaders, as pastors, as church, for us it’s something that we confront every day in terms of the issues that lend themselves to domestic violence,” he said, while responding to questions from reporters during a recent press conference at the Burchell Baptist Church.

Francis’ concerns come against the backdrop of thousands of domestic-violence reports being recorded nationally each year. Jamaica recorded 7,559 reported cases in 2025, a 6.4 per cent decline from 8,070 cases in 2024, but the figure remained substantially higher than the 4,615 cases reported in 2021. Reports surged to 8,070 in 2022 and remained above 8,000 in 2023 and 2024.

Francis recounted a recent encounter with a young woman who approached him after a church service seeking help with personal challenges, underscoring what he said was an increasing demand for churches to help people develop healthier ways of handling disagreements before they escalate into abuse.

“People are pressured in so many ways now. Problem-solving, conflict resolution, interpersonal skills are really what people need to be able to empower themselves, to understand, apply, and employ,” he said.

The national figures also point to a growing number of men seeking help.

The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) states that its domestic violence intervention centres receive more than 7,000 complaints annually, with approximately 27 per cent of reports now being made by men. Police have also linked 34 murders in 2025 to domestic-violence incidents, underscoring the potentially deadly consequences when conflicts are allowed to escalate.

Francis also pointed to the erosion of traditional community support systems, arguing that families are increasingly left to navigate conflict without the wider support that once existed.

“Because the village no longer raises the child, a lot of people are struggling on their own,” he said, stressing that anger or frustration should never strip people of basic respect for one another.

The national figures, however, may not fully capture the scale of the problem. The JCF has acknowledged that some victims seek assistance through other channels, including the Bureau of Gender Affairs’ gender-based violence hotline and the courts, without first reporting to the police.

The police have been expanding domestic violence intervention centres as part of efforts to encourage victims to seek help and intervention before household conflicts become more serious crimes.

For Francis, however, the response must extend beyond policing to prevention, counselling and helping families develop the skills to resolve disputes before they become abusive.

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com