What if you are a woman who lives with the threat of violence from one day to the next. Some days are better than others, but unfortunately you have no control over which they are and you and your children’s lives are lived in the midst of a constant feeling of tension. For women living in this type of situation the realisation comes at some point that what they are enduring is not “love,” that possibly their life may be in danger and the only way forward is to get out of the relationship. But what if there was nowhere to go when you most needed it? Nowhere to go to get the support needed through the difficult emotional and financial readjustments ahead. In the past women did not have many options; they might receive support from relatives or the community or more probably they put up with it. Nowadays women have the Women’s Crisis Centre which in the first instance is a safe haven that gives women a much needed respite from the threat of violence. Executive Director of the Cayman Islands Crisis Centre, Renee Carroll-Grate, says “While police officers are typically the first response to domestic abuse and social service agencies assist abused victims to obtain essential needs, a safe emergency shelter is a community resource which allows domestic abuse victims to immediately eliminate the threat of additional violence”.

While the emergency service is essential, what is also important is helping women break out of the cycle of abuse. Carroll-Grate says “In addition to providing emergency shelter and helping women to access community resources, the centre offers counselling and educational information about domestic abuse for women who reside at the centre.” Because most children who live in homes where there is domestic abuse either witness abuse or are direct targets of abuse, the centre also works with school age children to make sure they are safe and work on issues of self-esteem. Children in domestic abuse situations can finally find relief that something that has been hidden is finally out in the open as Carroll-Grate observes, “We have found that most often when talking with children/youth at the centre, this is the first time they are given the opportunity to talk openly about their anger and fears resulting from domestic abuse”.

What if there was no Women’s Crisis Centre? Sadly without a safe shelter victims of abuse and their children would be forced to remain in hostile and threatening environments, living under constant emotional stress and fear at risk of injuries and the worst case scenario, possibly their death. For the children left in these situations the emotional scars can run deep as studies have shown that children who witness abuse can often grow up to perpetuate the same cycle as either victim or perpetrator. If the crisis centre did not exist many more women and children in Cayman might be living out desperate lives rather than fulfilled ones. As Carroll-Grate says, “Many women who have used the centre and who are now living violence-free lives, state that the emotional support which they received at the Cayman Islands Crisis Centre is a major contributor to their success of breaking free from abusive relationships”.