JamSafe digital tool aims to strengthen Jamaica’s GBV support network

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Minister Olivia Grange has framed the JamSafe App as evidence that the Government intends to use digital tools to reinforce prevention, early action and joined-up assistance for people facing gender-based violence (GBV) and those at risk.

Her comments were presented by Sharon Coburn Robinson, Principal Director of the Bureau of Gender Affairs (BGA), at a recent workshop titled “AI: Online Safety and Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence” held at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston. Speaking for the minister, Robinson conveyed that the ministry, working through the BGA, is building the platform so technology can serve as a protective resource.

According to Grange, JamSafe is being built so survivors and at-risk users can reach help without delay. Planned functions include a single-tap emergency alert, artificial intelligence (AI)-supported safety screening, encrypted contact with trained responders, live location sharing only when the user agrees, and a direct link to the round-the-clock GBV Helpline.

Grange argued that technology is not the problem in itself; what matters is how systems are built, regulated and put to use. She acknowledged that AI can be turned toward abuse, yet also said it can speed access to justice, sharpen emergency response, surface patterns of harm and put survivors in touch with critical services sooner and more reliably.