On Saturday and Sunday (November 22 and 23) WOMAN INC, in association with The Jamaica Pegasus, will hold its 19th Trade Fair and Exhibition at The Pegasus.

Maria Rankine, counsellor at the Crisis Centre, said Woman Inc is an organisation that aims to promote the welfare of women through the provision of counselling to families on matters concerning rape, incest, sexual harassment at the workplace, domestic violence and more recently trafficking in persons.

The Crisis Centre provides this service on a 24-hour basis through professional counsellors, as well as volunteer counsellors who function on a roster system when the centre is closed. The hotline volunteers receive training on ways to respond and how to handle emergencies while they are on call. There are two crisis centres under the auspices of Woman Inc, one in Kingston, which was launched in 1985, and the other in Montego Bay, opened in 1991.

Training programme

Woman Inc has also developed a training programme for the police in order to sensitise them to the needs of female victims of trauma due to rape, incest and domestic violence.

Woman Inc liaises and collaborates on an ongoing basis with a number of governmental, non-governmental organisations and social agencies to which referrals are made in order to meet the needs of the clients. Public education is also provided to sensitise relevant groups to the problem of domestic violence and related topics.

Patron, Gloria Palomino, a past president, pointed out that an organisation such as WOMAN INC "had a mission to support and counsel women in need at their most vulnerable and that the records had shown that domestic violence, rape, incest and domestic violence are on the increase in our society".

Subcommittees

This was reinforced by President, Valerie Moodie, who said the organisational structure of Woman Inc consisted of three subcommittees: Facilities, Fund-raising and Public Education/Legal reform. The Executive Committee, as the governing body, establishes and monitors policies, rules, regulations and operating practices to ensure the needs of the clients and their families are met.

She said the special fund-raising trade fairs are critical to the operations of the agency.

At the fair this weekend, the first chairman and founder, Angela Forrest, will present the session: 'Shattered dreams...picking up the pieces ... moving on' - an examination of courage and survival in the 'Speakers Gallery - Let's Talk' located in the Belisario Suite from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.

'The Crisis Centre provides this service on a 24-hour basis through professional counsellors, as well as volunteer counsellors who function on a roster system when the centre is closed.'

WOMAN INC. is grateful for the cooperation of trade fair sponsors:

The Jamaica Pegasus,

The Gleaner Co Ltd,

Lerner Shops,

HOT 102 FM,

KLAS Sports FM 89,

Roots FM 96.1,

IRIE FM;

NEWS TALK 93 FM,

KingAlarm Systems,

Western Union

and other supporters.

Fund-raising chairperson Dundeen Ferguson and her team salute patrons and booth holders, including

Kingston Bookshop,

KingAlarm Systems,

GraceKennedy Remittance Services,

Truman's Nursery,

National Housing Trust,

Cleopatra's Collections, SoftSheen-Carson,

Essentials Fine Jewellery (Patricia White),

Globe Insurance,

Guardian Life Ltd,

Bena Designs (Bena Nakawuku),

H.D. Hopwood,

Kirk Distributors,

Mustard Seed Communities,

Avon Foundation,

Renaissance Disco;

Wynlee Distributors,

Jamaica Environment Trust,

Wine Guy (Cynthia and Paul Hanworth); and

Jamaica Sun Inc (Clinton 'Yagga' Reynolds).