NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis, along with other government leaders, civil society organizations and the legal community in The Bahamas, united to call for bold and concrete progress to achieving equality in law and practice for women and girls at the opening ceremony of the National Gender-Based Violence Discriminatory Law Review Forum.
Participants convened for the three-day forum, hosted by the Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development, and discussed gaps in legislation and policies that are not aligned with the country’s gender equality commitments, and which result in laws becoming directly or indirectly discriminatory for women and girls.
The event facilitated a review of key recommendations to Parliament on measures that can be taken to address the absence of specific legislation and to amend existing laws to strengthen the country’s legal and policy framework and secure equality for women and girls.
During his opening remarks, Davis said work must be done to remove discrimination identified in the legal framework and to further align to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
“Our country subscribes to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which was signed in December 1979, and our ratification in October 1993 underscored our commitment to improve the status of women in our national life,” he said.
“We passed landmark legislations (Domestic Violence Act, Sexual Offences Act and Trafficking in Persons Act) in this country that furthered the cause of equality and implemented progressive policies which furthered inclusiveness and justice, but we have much more to do.
“The recommendations that will emerge after this three-day forum will be very important to the formulation of new public policies, which is a commitment of the government.”
Giving a presentation on the Discriminatory Law Review via live video link, Planning and Coordination Specialist in the UN Women Multi-Country Office – Caribbean Monique Long further explained the existing gaps in The Bahamas’ legislation, citing a 2021 analysis on the Laws of The Bahamas conducted by UN Women.
“There are notable gaps in the Bahamas Constitution which impact gender equality,” she said.
“The protected grounds from discrimination in Section 26 are limited to race, place of origin, political opinions, color or creed.
“Section 26 does not consider discrimination on the basis of sex and/or gender, nor does it include a definition of discrimination against women that accords with Article 1 of CEDAW.”
The legislative review was conducted within the normative framework of the UN Women’s mandate, which focuses on collaborating with regional institutions, national governments and civil society in CARICOM to design and adopt laws, systems and policies to eliminate discrimination, address structural inequalities and promote the adoption of attitudes, norms and practices that advance gender equality and women’s empowerment in the Caribbean.
While noting the occurrence of violence against women in The Bahamas, including incidences of femicide (murder of women, including those due to intimate partner violence), Long highlighted that the forum was timely and important to underscore efforts to address intimate partner violence.
She stressed the importance of a strong legislative framework as a key component to ultimately eradicating violence against women and girls in The Bahamas.
In urging the government to amend the Sexual Offences Act, Long said: “The law does not give full protection to married women from marital rape.
“It instead creates an offence called ‘sexual assault by a spouse’, which requires a married woman to prove that she had taken certain steps to end the marriage before the law will offer her any protection.
“We must stress the importance of removing the discrimination evident in the law which limits the access to justice and legal protection afforded to married women.
“The existence of this law is directly discriminatory as it provides unmarried women with greater protection against sexual offenses by a partner, as they aren’t required to prove the existence of additional circumstances to seek help or redress.”
In the absence of prevalent data for physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence, other existing statistics point to the urgent need for action to tackle violence against women and girls.
According to the data from the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s (RBPF) 2020 Nationwide Crime Statistics, reports of sexual offences increased by 34 percent, with 213 cases compared to 159 in 2019. These offences included rape, unlawful sexual intercourse and attempted rape.
The forum featured presentations from legal experts and gender rights activists, including Marion Bethel, attorney; Leila Greene, retired permanent secretary in the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Legal Affairs; and Cleopatra Christie, The Bahamas Crisis Centre.
This event comes ahead of the 66th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW65), the UN’s largest gathering on gender equality and women’s rights, which provides relevant technical guidance on legislation.
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