Jamaica is a nation with a lot of “aggressive friendliness,” according to a panellist at a talk I attended yesterday that addressed youth violence from a gender perspective. Put another less euphemistic way, Jamaica can be a very violent society.

To be more specific, one in five Jamaican women experience physical or sexual abuse at some point in their lives. The homicide rate for young men is 188/100,000. Related statistics that help to explain these phenomena include the fact that twenty per cent of children are born to a teenage mother, twenty per cent of youth are unattached; 24% of young men and 38 % of young women are unemployed.

These sobering statistics provided a backdrop for the Next GENDERation Talk, titled Understanding and Addressing Youth Violence from a Gender Perspective held on June 5, 2013. This initiative “aims to raise awareness, promote discussion among youth on youth violence using a gender perspective.”

To discuss this important topic, a group of youth, educators, activists, members of civil society, government (Ministry of Yoth and Culture, Bureau of Women’s Affairs, Education) and NGOs such as the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank gathered at the comfortable Terra Nova Hotel in New Kingston to discuss violence as it relates to gender.

“This is a bold attempt to save the next generation,” The Honourable Senator Sandrea Falconer of the Office of the Prime Minister (Responsibility for Gender Affairs) told the crowd in opening remarks. Sen. Faloner also called on the entire nation to support the Next GENDERation initiative and to subscribe to Vision 2030, which aims to make Jamaica the place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business. Jamaica cannot be built on a foundation of violence, the Senator added.

Federica Marza of the World Bank then took participants through an explanation of gender, which is a social construct that dictates the roles and expectations of men and women, versus sex, which refers to an individual’s biological situation. In this light, Marza told the crowd that gender equality matters because it is both a basic human rights issue and it is smart economics. “If women are excluded from economic activity, it is a missed opportunity to create wealth,” she said.

However, it is not all bad news in Jamaica. Women have experienced advances in accessing tertiary education and healthy birth rates have increased such that Jamaica’s maternal mortality rate is still above the world average at 110 per 100,000 live births.

The University of West Indies’ Dr. Herbert Gayle was blunt about the issue of gender in Jamaica. “Gender is a mess that needs to be sorted out,” he said. This mess manifests itself in many ways, including the reality that boys are in trouble, but the bulk of funds goes to girls, he said. The Bureau of Women’s Affairs Faith Webster echoed this by saying that women have an opportunity to contribute to the confusing discussion about gender, but now is the time to include men and boys in this dialogue. A participant noted that it is also essential to discuss homophobia when talking about gender and violence.

The discussion then moved into talk about “agency,” which was defined as the “capacity to act to achieve desired objectives.” Too many Jamaican youth lack agency and an example of this would be a lack of means to attend university. Solutions to this lack of agency include aspiration, social norms, empowerment,soft skills, parenting intervention, self-esteem boosting, social interactions, public awareness campaigns and information sharing.

Federica Marza of the World Bank then went on to discuss violence, which she beautifully described as the opposite of freedom, with even the threat of violence negating one’s ability to act and achieve. Marza said there are four factors that put one at risk of experiencing violence: : poverty; community influences; interpersonal relationships; individual issues (low self-esteem).

To counter the ravages of violence and to feel empowered, said Takisha Barnes of the Ministry of Youth and Culture, youth must feel listened to and understood. Dr. Gayle of UWI added to this by saying that young people can work hard but without agency, cannot achieve. Thus, the most violent people have the most agency, he said, explaining that some people simply take the opportunities in front of them by using violence.

The triggering factors of violence usually fall under one of four categories: social norms, unemployment, lack of support and an aggressive police force. However, violence can be alleviated through skills development, education, employment, emotional support, community intervention, according to another presenter from the World Bank.

The presentations continued throughout the day, including a lively report from Ms. Audrey Cold-Crossdale, who is a Communication for Social and Behavioural Change Specialist, who told the audience that successfully relaying a message requires knowing your audience, what you want from it and what benefit you can provide to them. You must create awareness, arouse interest, stimulate desire and induce action, she said.

The remainder of the day consisted of role playing and more sessions about gender and violence, but we could not stay. Judging by audience reaction and participation, it was a successful day.