Stop beating our pickney! – Grange

Gender Minister Olivia Grange has called on Jamaicans to stop beating children as means of punishment.

"We must renew our commitment to ending domestic abuse. We must commit to stop using violence as a way to discipline our children. It's time we decide as a nation that we will stop beating our pickney," Grange said.

She was speaking in Parliament yesterday ahead of today's International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls and the start of 16 days of activism towards ending the violence.

"We must end all acts of violence and abuse in our homes, in our communities and in our country. We have to focus on the homes and the communities, because most of the violence against women and girls takes place in the homes," Grange said.