It was recently revealed by Attorney General, Sen. Hon. Ryan Pinder that the government would not be pursuing marital rape legislation in this term of office.
Prime Minister, the Hon. Philip Davis was asked for comment on the topic on Monday while attending the launch of the Urban Renewal Authority. Mr. Davis told reporters, “we do not need to describe rape. When you start describing rape you then get into more legal issues.”
He went further saying, “insofar as rape is concerned if you…you don’t describe it. Why do you want to describe rape? Rape is rape, marital is descriptive. We all lament an abhor any man who would inflict violence on his wife and rape is an act of violence and there are laws to deal with it in a particular way.”
The Prime Minister said that any decision on bringing legislation to address marital rape would be derived from consensus. “This is a very divisive matter. You have arguments on both sides. I will touch it once I get a full understanding of what Bahamians as a whole want and not just one group on either side of the divide. I want to have some consensus as to what has to happen before we move forward.”
Officials of the Bahamas Crisis Center and Human Rights Activist Joseph Darville are among the voices calling for the legislation.
