Kingston 11 April 2019 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has condemned recent acts of violence against women and has urged Jamaicans to do more to end the violence.

Minister Grange said the killing of 42 year old Roulene Clarke Cowan on Wednesday morning highlighted that “intimate partner violence is more common than we are willing to admit.”

The police report that Mrs Cowan was shot dead by her husband, Patrick Cowan, who later killed himself.

On Thursday morning, the police reported another incident in which a woman was attacked by her common-law husband, who later took his own life. The woman has been admitted to hospital in a serious condition.

Minister Grange:

“Let us remember the victims and their families in our prayers at this time. We are grateful to the neighbours who called the police this morning — that intervention might have saved this woman’s life.
But we can do more as a society to intervene and end the violence. If you know that someone is being abused, please do not remain silent. Do not look the other way. Call the police. Your intervention could save lives.”

Minister Grange also reminded women in violent relationships that the Government has established a national shelter “to help them leave violent living environments and to receive counselling and other assistance.”

She said the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport would establish two additional shelters for women in this financial year.