Juliet Holness defends stance that violence must be treated 'from the root' Wednesday, April 21, 2021 KINGSTON, Jamaica – Member of Parliament for East Rural St Andrew, Juliet Holness, has sought to address criticisms of a statement she made yesterday regarding violence in Jamaica. “For absolute clarity, violence against women, in any form, is reprehensible and absolutely unacceptable,” Holness said today in response to the backlash on social media. “Even as we continue to take steps to eliminate gender-based violence through targeted and specific interventions, these interventions will not be very effective if we continue to neglect the fact that too many of us, from childhood, only learn violence as a means of correction, justice and conflict resolution. This, in turn, perpetuates a culture of violence against women, men, children, and in fact anyone with whom we have disagreements in our daily lives.”