When Inspector Lavern McLean stepped into the SAIL-SRHR two-day training in Manchester recently, she carried with her years of deeply ingrained beliefs. As a seasoned police officer stationed at the Alligator Pond Police Station in Manchester, Jamaica, she has spent years in the field, protecting, serving and reassuring Jamaicans from all walks of life. Inspector McLean thought the SAIL-SRHR workshop would be just like countless others she has attended before. She didn’t expect that this workshop—designed to explore gender-based violence and human rights—would challenge her own perceptions in a way she had never imagined.
The training, attended by Justices of the Peace and fellow police officers, covered a broad spectrum of topics, including Understanding Human Rights and Law, Gender-Based Violence and Its Impact on Families and Society, and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. It was meant to educate and inform. But for Inspector McLean, it did something even more profound—it reshaped how she saw the LGBTQ+ community.
“I think I had a real serious bias as it relates to homosexuals or, as you call them, men who have sex with men,” Inspector McLean admitted candidly. “Before the training, I couldn’t see it. I didn’t see any rights in it. I couldn’t understand how they could do something like that or why they should be allowed to. But after sitting through the discussions, listening to the different presenters and participants, it lightened my darkness.”
She paused, her voice reflecting the weight of her realization. “I see them now as human beings. They are individuals who have choices and rights, just like anybody else. It is growing on me,” she said.
A Shift in Tolerance and Understanding
The training had not only provided her with new knowledge but had given her a different lens through which to view the world. When asked if she was leaving the workshop a little more tolerant than when she arrived, her response was immediate and decisive.
“Not a little bit,” she corrected, “a lot more tolerant. My tolerance level was way, way down there before. But now, having listened to the presenters and the discussions surrounding gender-based violence and human rights, I realize that it could be a family member or someone close to me who is experiencing these violations or who is LGBTQ+. And if that were the case, I wouldn’t want them to be mistreated. So, you have to put yourself in their position,” she pointed out.
It was a powerful moment of empathy—one that underscored the very purpose of the workshop.
The Role of Law Enforcement in Change
As a commanding officer overseeing a team of about 20 officers, Inspector McLean quickly recognized that the lessons she had learned should not stop with her.
“This is pertinent information that I would love to share with them,” she stated. “I think education is very important in everything that we do. As police officers, we interact with a wide cross-section of people every single day. We have a big influence on society and how it functions. That means we have a responsibility to tackle stigma and discrimination.”
She spoke with conviction, now seeing the law not just as a set of rules to enforce but as a tool for justice, inclusion, and respect.
A Bigger Mission for Change
The duty bearers workshop is part of the Strengthening Access, Inclusion, and Leadership for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Jamaica (SAIL-SRHR), a project being implemented by the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities (CVC). The initiative aims to improve access to inclusive and respectful sexual and reproductive health services and information for adolescents and key population groups across seven parishes in Jamaica: St. Thomas, Kingston, St. Andrew, St. Catherine, Clarendon, Manchester, and St. Elizabeth.
For Inspector McLean, what began as just another training session turned into a personal journey—one that pushed her to question old biases and embrace a more inclusive understanding of human rights.
