This was disclosed at yesterday's church service to mark 'International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Children' at the Church of Reconciliation in Braeton, Portmore, St. Catherine. Since January, 129 women and 14 children have died violently, up from 87 women and seven children from 2003. Domestic violence accounted for 55 of these deaths.

Hilary Nicholson, training coordinator at the Women's Media Watch, told The Gleaner that the fact that domestic violence was the leading cause of violent deaths for women indicated that, "The home is not a safe place for women, we would like to think the home is a safe place but it is not, it is a very dangerous place for many women. That is where they suffer not only killings but other forms of violence."

ADDRESSING THE PR0BLEM

Nicholson said that the perpetrators of domestic violence were males, and suggested that to address the problem, men needed to recognise their role in bringing an end to this violence.

She said that the Women's Media Watch in its own way was addressing the problem by trying to validate the other side of man, such as the positive roles they were playing as good fathers and husbands.

"Many men are trying to be loving, kind, caring and considerate but those parts of the man are very often not validated in society. We don't see stories about them in the newspaper, so very often men feel that the nurturing role that they can play in a family is less important," she said.

Meanwhile, the Reverend Marjorie Lewis in her message called for all Jamaicans to challenge the cultural practices that encourage violence such as in our music, which she said sometimes degraded women.