Violence against women and girls is a stain on Jamaica’s national character.

That’s according to National Security Minister, Dr. Horace Chang.

For the past few weeks, there have been several violent acts against women and girls – occurrences which have sparked national outrage.

These incidents include the discovery of skeletal remains believed to be those of Anisa Dilworth, a missing University of Technology (UTECH) student on a beach in St. Catherine on Saturday, the physical assault of a nurse in uniform, in a road rage incident in Mount Friendship, St. Andrew last Tuesday, the strangulation and assault of nine-year-old, Kelsey Ferrigon in Spanish Town, St. Catherine, four days earlier and the sexual assault of two girls, ages nine and 10 in Old Harbour, St. Catherine, on May 7.

In a statement, Dr. Chang said the incidents are deeply troubling.

He added that they are not only criminal violations but moral ones – offences against Jamaica’s shared values of decency, justice and human dignity.

Dr. Chang stressed that violence against women and children will not be tolerated and that these acts will be met with the full force of the law.