Minister suggests govt will criminalize marital rape
A proposed Gender-Based Violence Bill will likely address marital rape, Minister of State for Social Services Lisa Rahming suggested yesterday.
“It doesn’t specifically say marital rape, but it’s all-inclusive,” Rahming told reporters at the weekly Office of the Prime Minister press briefing.
“It includes everyone. You would see in section two, which addresses what is gender-based violence, and it tells you who is included, and everyone is included: husbands, wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, everyone. It’s all-inclusive.”
When asked if the law would specifically allow a spouse to act on an allegation of marital rape, she replied, “Make a complaint.”
Rahming could not say what kind of penalties would be associated with such complaints.
She was also unable to provide a timeline for completing the bill.
“I take no credit, and those who are in the ministry right now take no credit for this bill that has been formulated and somewhat formed,” Rahming said.
“It was done under the Christie
administration under a national task force. Even though the bill is coming on, you would find out in this bill that it would speak of a task force that would also be ongoing who would be addressing the domestic violence issue.”
Office of the Prime Minister Press Secretary Clint Watson said the proposed legislation has not yet gone before Cabinet.
The issue of marital rape has long been a controversial one.
In late 2017, United Nations (UN) Special rapporteur on Violence Against Women Dubravka Simonovic said that The Bahamas was out of step with the UN’s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. It has failed to criminalise all forms of marital rape.
The Bahamas ratified the convention in October 1993.
In 2018, during an appearance before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, then-Attorney General Carl Bethel said the government intended to criminalise marital rape.
A bill was drafted and circulated among community stakeholders, but the Minnis administration did not move the issue before leaving office in September 2021.
When asked yesterday if the Davis administration intends to criminalise marital rape, the press secretary said, “That’s an answer I can’t give you. We need to have the attorney general address that issue. That’s something I can’t decide on.
“We’ve not heard anything towards that regard as yet, and so we’re going to ask the attorney general to address that for you and see whether there is something on the drawing board.”
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