According to the United Nations, one in every four women in Jamaica has experienced sexual violence. Gendered violence is one of the main issues that stem from Colonial origin. I would argue in this essay that such violence has colonial origins, further proving my point; I will use multiple sources, such as Frank Franz, Wretched of the Earth and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Imitation to expand on the contextualized history of Jamaica and the hallmark of violence. In response to the violence on women’s bodies and exploring the systems in place to neutralize the violence against women.

                      Violence is the hallmark of Jamaica's colonial history. Globally violence against women has been occurring for centuries. Within the imperialism era of Jamaica, which was claimed by both the Spanish and the British empires, they suffered greatly and lost the agency of a potentially strong democracy. “The British seized Jamaica from the Spanish in 1655. The island remained a colony of Britain until 1962, after a decades-long independence movement by Jamaican leaders.” Cianna Greaves’, My family lived under British rule in Jamaica. Their struggle can’t be forgotten, adds, “The colonial model of Jamaica was one where colorism, sexism, featurism and other dynamic social and economic divisions that reinforced white supremacy were the law of the land over the people.” During European rule, increased proximity of disease and colonization led to diseases, violent confrontations, enslavement, and forced labor, destroying traditional cultural patterns. Empires are made through the act of violence. European empires ruled with conquest and dictatorship over land, relinquishing various systems of sociopolitical and cultural freedoms represented within the country. The land was stripped of its resources to gain profit, and the enslavement of the Africans filtered through the transatlantic slave trade for the use of body labor. There were several sugar and cacao factories in Jamaica, which were rich in resources and minerals. The ripple effects of violence on the enslaved women’s bodies present themselves in post-colonial times.  In reaction to the violence on the land and their bodies, women have responded in multiple ways to create profit for themselves. Journalist Sandra Duvivier speaks to the constructions of women’s bodies within a broken system such as Jamaica. In her article My Body is My Piece of Land, she discusses, similar to Haiti, Jamaica’s “patriarchal constructions of women’s bodies, which place the benefits of women’s sexuality at the hands of men, poor and working-class. Women’s definitions allow for female agency and capitalizing off of their own bodies.”  Jamaica's violence on women's bodies is similar to that on the island's land.  Women have been raised in fear, creating a culture of displacement within their communities. Andre Lorde once stated, “In the male construct of brute force, we our lives depended upon the goodwill of patriarchal power.” There is only pain to be learned and the erasure of the land and its people. This violence created alienation and disorientation for women to live with their heritage and selves. These women’s bodies were exploited to make a profit to control that narrative.

                     Jamaica’s independence from the British Empire was just the beginning. Though free from the empire's rule, Jamaica and its people dealt with a great deal of pain and effects due to the 300 years of colonization. Under the 300-year rule, Jamaican citizens faced a deconstruction of their identity and were seen as objects, and the land and government had dealt with financial repercussions and emotional damage. Much like war-torn countries, with the lack of food and supplies for a reality of long-term living, Jamaica is facing a rape culture which shows the disparity of protections for women in the nation. Property, infant mortality, and disease greatly affected the country of Jamaica after 1938. According to Joan French, Colonial Policy towards Women after the 1938 Uprising: The Case of Jamaica, French states that in most cases, “the whole financial responsibility falls on the mother.” Due to this, poverty becomes an issue. Men’s wages tend to be significantly higher than women, creating a disadvantage for single mothers and single women,

 “The climate of female poverty led to suffering for the women due to the exploitative system they lived in. The country became the ultimate sacrifice. To better their lives, they become migrants, which is a solution to the active balance of their bodies. Within a foreign land like America, they are offered some system of protection and the policies of citizenship which were once used against these women by their ancestors. Still, they can use it to their advantage to create a new life. During these past sessions in Jamaica, these black women were again in limbo about their reality and their bodies and space.”

The violence has shaped them into a victim of Western colonial discourse. After thoroughly reading the Invitation, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie,  the narrative of the in-between agency of being an African and an American citizen is illustrated. The “collection” of citizens America brings in has become the mask of the reality these migrants face. “Nkem imagines the Benin people carving the original masks four hundred years ago. Obiora told her they used the masks at royal ceremonies, placing them on either side of their king to protect him, to warn off evil. Only specially chosen people could be custodians of the masks, the same people responsible for bringing the fresh human heads used in burying their king.” Africa, before colonization, had a  history of masks and paintings, amongst other artifacts, that showed the richness and humanity of civilization. This depiction almost romanticizes the past's aspects before the exploitation of land and the people. The mask is interpreted as a state of being; the trauma Jamaican women have faced has become their reality. To live freely, they must relocate through citizenship, which further masks the issues back home. 

                       Exploring the systems in place to neutralize the violence against women showed feminism and nationalism as an anchor for women’s trauma. Jamaica has been described as one of the murder capitals of the world. Violence has an element on the soil due to exploitation and Poverty, as stated before. The democracy within Jamaica is not efficient in protecting its people. Within the country, we can see texturized violence, drugs, domestic violence, rape, and other forms of assault geared toward women. Violence is a response to the enactment of power, superiority, and exploitation of the people. It is fully justified the protests and anger women share in response to the violence on their bodies. These women choose the act, in Frantz's words, to “recreate” themselves. Frank Fantz, in Wretched of the Earth, describes years of oppression and shows the normalcy of the being of being oppressed. Oppression shows itself as a weight of trauma that women carry with them. Seeing this mask, Nkem looks at the museum and has a slightly dismissive tone towards the trauma that may be present behind the object and its complex devastation of the people. The normalization of history presenting cultural artifacts, regardless of their violent history, represents displaced people when faced with their circumstances. Violence becomes a cultural heritage, similar to when Frantz stated, “we understood this truth at one time, but we have forgotten it—that no gentleness can efface the marks of violence; only violence itself can destroy them.” We are glorifying these symbols of art and history without reflecting the reality that many people face. We have this false sense of protection in America when we see travesties in other countries resulting from colonial discourse and the erasure of history's truth. The concept of war and taken objects of cultural influence gives reference to the identity women hold within another home country that marks their violence as a name, “for at first, it is not their violence, it is ours, which turns back on itself and rends them; and the first action of these oppressed creatures is to bury deep down that hidden anger which their and our moralities condemn and which is, however only the last refuge of their humanity.” The hallmark of Nkem’s experience contributes to the violence that still affects her when displaced. Foreignness is an invisible force that drives isolation toward migrants, immigrants, and asylum seekers. From the perspective of the displaced, the perplexities of what a foreigner is are complicated. The violence they have endured is a consequence of their migration and aspiration for a better life. 

                      Violence on the land through colonialism and the imperial ideals of Britain's empire have catastrophic effects on the people. Gendered violence produces agencies of migrants fleeing for a better life and protection. The foreigner experience is a price to pay in both a positive and a negative for all they have gone through. Still, there are reminders in both academic spaces and historical institutions that show the violence placed on people and the generations impacted. Each resource is used to illustrate the impact of colonial discourse on the people, and in this case, women. Both land and women have been exploited, and prolonged violence has implemented its way into society due to economic and social challenges. Many organizations, including, The Bureau of Gender Affairs, Woman Incorporated, and Women’s Centre Of Jamaica Foundation, are promoting an awareness of the rape culture in Jamaica and questioning the government and its lack of acknowledgment of this epidemic. Their efforts include public policy, legislation, and promoting gender equality to raise awareness about gender violence.

Resources 

Adichie, C. N. (2009). The thing around your neck. Alfred A. Knopf.

BlackPast, contributed by: (2021, March 10). (1981) Audre Lorde, "The uses of anger: Women responding to racism" •. (1981) Audre Lorde, "The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism" •. Retrieved December 14, 2022, from https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/speeches-african-american-history/1981-audre-lorde-uses-anger-women-responding-racism/ 

C. Duvivier S.    My body is my piece of land - JSTOR. (n.d.). Retrieved December 11, 2022, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/27654969 

Colonial policy towards women after the 1938 uprising: The case of Jamaica. (n.d.). Retrieved December 11, 2022, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00086495.1988.11829432 

Fanon, F. (2001). The wretched of the earth (C. Farrington, Trans.). Penguin Classics.

Greaves, C. (2022, September 19). My family lived under British rule in Jamaica. their struggle can't be forgotten. WBEZ Chicago. Retrieved December 11, 2022, from https://www.wbez.org/stories/my-family-lived-under-british-rule-in-jamaica/0325be4d-4384-4477-8efb-9049b1a96fb6