Commissioner decries all forms of rape

Decrying all forms of rape and abuse, Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle said yesterday there should be no more tolerance for abuse and charged that change is needed now.

“Rape, marital rape, date rape, unlawful sex and, of course, incest all speak to the volume of this problem,” he said on his Twitter page. 

“No more tolerance for the abuse that existed for years unchecked. Truth is, many of us are products of rape. We need change now. Rape is not statute-barred.”

Asked to expand further on his comments, Rolle said yesterday, “That’s my opinion.”

The issue of marital rape, domestic violence, and violence against children have grabbed headlines recently.

The death of a four-year-old girl, who police said died from blunt force trauma and the recent assault of a woman on Key West Street has stirred debate on the issue. 

Domestic cases

In October, police statistics showed that there was a 36 percent increase in the number of domestic cases reported between January and September 2021, compared to the same time in 2020. 

The numbers, relating to domestic cases, showed that there was a 100 percent increase in murders (four in 2021 compared to two in 2020); an 87 percent increase in assault (652 reported cases in 2021 compared to 348 in 2020); and an 84 percent increase in general domestic reports (467 reported cases in 2021 compared to 254 in 2020). 

Reports of trespassing (up 200 percent), threats of harm (up 50 percent), threats of death (up 12 percent), and threats of arson (up 71 percent) were also up. There were also increases in reports of causing damage (up 49 percent); causing harm (up 69 percent), disturbance (up 38 percent); fighting (up 180 percent); grievous harm (up 75 percent), harassment (up 177 percent); and stabbing (up 67 percent).

The report showed that rapes were up eight percent.

Study

A recent study revealed that nearly one in every four female university students in The Bahamas admitted to being raped at least once. 

The study, “Mental Health and Negative Sexual Experiences of Bahamian University Students”, was conducted by Dr. Elizabeth J. Williams, Dr. William J. Fielding and Virginia Ballance. It was published in volume 27 of the International Journal of Bahamian Studies

It also found that close to 40 percent of university students believe that rape cannot occur within a marriage.

“This indicates the considerable disagreement on this topic in a society where the law recognizes rape only outside of marriage, as demonstrated in debates on marital rape,” the study noted.

“Some respondents in this study indicated that they may have been sexually abused by their husbands.

“Although this study did not ask about marital status directly, when we grouped respondents who were aged over 30 and in long-term relationships (one year or more) together with those who were married, 7.2 percent of these 69 females reported having sex against their will with their partner in their most recent sexual encounter.”

Following the publication of the study, Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis was asked about his views on marital rape. 

He said, “I have too many other things on my agenda to be thinking about.”

He later issued a statement via his Twitter account saying that marital rape is wrong and there should be a national conversation on the issue. 

Under the law, a man could be charged with rape if he were legally separated from his wife. However, if they are together the law does not recognize rape. 

In 2009, then Minister of State for Social Development Loretta Butler-Turner tabled a bill in the House of Assembly that would have fully outlawed marital rape. But some religious leaders balked, charging that the government was attempting to interfere in marriages. The bill was eventually shelved. 

In 2013, then Attorney General Allyson Maynard Gibson told the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, that the Christie administration was considering criminalizing marital rape. But that never happened. 

The issue surfaced again in 2017 when Dubravka Simonovic, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, suggested The Bahamas is out of step with the United Nations’ Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women with its failure to criminalize all forms of marital rape.

The following year, Carl Bethel, who was attorney general at the time, told members of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva that The Bahamas government intended to criminalize marital rape.

Again, that never happened. 

The post Commissioner decries all forms of rape appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

source https://thenassauguardian.com/commissioner-decries-all-forms-of-rape/