A woman and an organization on a mission to save battered women in Jamaica

BY MICHAEL THOMAS

“What I would like to leave with women, men, and children is that your current situation does not determine your future. Only you and God do that, and the sky’s the limit. I was abused and molested, so what I have inside of me is protection for my women, protection for children, and just to see growth. We all can grow beyond what society says we are.”

Meet Carletta (Anisa) Figaro, Board member and Director of “Love Life Now Foundation” for abused women and children in Jamaica, and relentless advocate when it comes to standing up for the rights of her fellow women to be free from domestic oppression.

I had the privilege of having a lengthy conversation with Carletta and it certainly was education for me. “Love Life Now Foundation” is based in Boston Massachusetts, and one might ask, what does this have to do with Jamaica? Let us find out.

Jamaica may be small in comparison to the U.S.A. but is ranked very high on the domestic abuse and femicide chart worldwide. Carletta told me of a few cases of domestic abuse that ended in the death of the women involved, here is one such case.

Jaeda Pauline Whitehead was a 28-year-old school board employee from Toronto, Ontario, who died in Shearer’s Heights in Portland Cottage, Clarendon after a reported domestic dispute with her husband, a fisherman from the community. She had arrived on the island two weeks prior for their wedding anniversary, which ended tragically. Here is how Carletta described this situation.

“He beat her, and after that beating, there was blunt force trauma to the head, and instead of going to the hospital as recommended by her friends, she decided she was going to lay down and sleep, but she never woke up.”

This courageous woman made it clear that two things need to be urgently addressed: the abused women need to speak out and get help before it is too late, and her organization “Love Life Now Foundation” needs all the help it can get on the island and from outside too.

Here are some of the concerns that the organization has and would like to overcome urgently. Let’s look at the effects of not speaking out.

“The awareness is very limited. We need people to come out and stand with us and say NO to domestic violence, no to violence against women and girls, and this is so limited here, that is what is frustrating,” Figaro said.

She explained to me that she suffered in silence for many years, and so she is passionate about helping women. “Violence thrives on silence,” Carletta said. “You must speak up to get assistance and be empowered.”

I asked Carletta, “What would you say to those abusers if you had a chance to do so?” She answered, “What I would say is STOP and seek counseling and mentorship. The pastors in church I am encouraging them to speak to men about becoming good husbands, fathers to speak to sons about being good men and not portraying abuse in front of their children.”

The “Love Life Now Foundation” in Jamaica needs all the assistance it can get, and as we speak, they are reaching out first to owners of vacant homes on the island to please make these houses available. These houses can be used as intervention centers to save lives, so that battered women and their children on the island can have much-needed shelter until they can stand on their feet eventually.

If you are reading this article and would like to help, please contact the foundation at 1-(876) 447 7987, or 1-(876) 824 6470.

Carletta explained how sometimes it is an uphill battle just trying to help moms on the run with simple things like transportation money, groceries, and shelter.

On the housing matter, Carletta told me, “There is one lady from England who has permitted us to use a seven-bedroom house here, but we have not been able to furnish this house. We need beds, we need basic stuff so that when these women come, we have to accommodate the children as well. We are not about separating families.

You will be empowering women, saving lives, and making Jamaica a better place, and a safer place for women.”