Laura Matthews, Gleaner Writer
Cecelia Levy (left), of Mother In Crisis and organiser of the Million Woman March, chats with Councillor Natalie Campbell-Rodriquez (centre) and Lorna Golding, wife of Opposition Leader Bruce Golding, during the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Women United in Action press conference at the JLP headquarters, Belmont Road, New Kingston, yesterday. - RUDOLPH BROWN/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
THE JAMAICA Labour Party (JLP) Women in Action group has joined forces with the Women's Freedom Movement (WFM) and the National Organisation of Women (NOW) to help women reclaim Jamaica from criminal elements and the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Senator Dorothy Lightbourne, JLP spokesperson on legal and women's affairs, said the rise in crime under the present Government has caused an erosion in the level of respect for women and children of all ages.
"Women are becoming the victims of gun crimes, murder and domestic violence practised in its various and most heinous forms," Senator Lightbourne said during a press conference at the JLP's Belmont Road, New Kingston, headquarters yesterday.
"We must reclaim Jamaica and change this climate of violence," she added.
PRESERVE LIVES
Sally Porteous, Deputy Mayor of Mandeville and general secretary of NOW, expressed similar concerns and urged women to play their part in the fight against crime. She said the press conference was not only intended to highlight the predicament of crime, but to see what could be done to help preserve "our lives and that of our children and families."
Councillor Natalie Campbell-Rodriques, of the Westchester division in the Portmore Municipality, said it was necessary to highlight the plight of women.
"Our specific issues are often forgotten or ignored," she said in speaking for women who have been infected with HIV/AIDS through carnal abuse.
