In 2010, Bahamas rejected the UN's recommendation on marital rape

Published On:Friday, June 11, 2010

By MEGAN REYNOLDS

Tribune Staff Reporter

mreynolds@tribunemedia.net

THE REJECTION of UN Human Rights Council's recommendation to criminilise rape within marriage was a necessary move for legislative reasons, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed.

The United Kingdom called for the Bahamas to amend existing legislation so as to outlaw marital rape, and Sweden recommended that the government continue efforts to promote gender equality and consider appropriate legislative changes including criminalising marital rape in a review of the country's human rights record in March last year.

Amnesty International highlighted this in an annual report published last month.

And director general of Foreign Affairs Joshua Sears explained how the motions could not be accepted by government because of their legislative implications.

"As the amendment was not in law we couldn't commit ourselves to a legislative process in Geneva without reviewing the policy," he said.

"During the review a number of recommendations are made by member states - some are accepted, some are considered and others we simply cannot accept at the time, simply because they have legislative implications.

"Some also carry severe cultural implications and we can't just do away with them."

Rejection of the motion did however kick-start a process whereby government proposed to amend the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act in July and outlaw marital rape.

But the subsequent outcry from factions in the community and the church drove government to shelve the amendment in March.

"The Biblical justification is astonishing," Mr Sears said. "But at least we have begun the process.

"Like with many other recommendations, we have started to look at it.

"And by the time the next report is due, in the next four years, things may have changed."

Further progress has yet to be seen in terms of accepting UN member states' recommendations to enhance the rights of women, children, migrants and convicted criminals.

The Bahamas rejected Haiti's recommendation to put an end to corporal punishment in schools and the home, Algeria's recommendation to withdraw its reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and Canada's recommendation to subject any detention of migrants, refugees or asylum seekers to judicial review and ensure persons are informed of their rights.

The government was also not in a position to support Bangladesh's suggestion to consider undertaking studies in children involved in the commercial sex industry and take appropriate action, nor Canada's call for the Bahamas to focus more efforts on combatting child prostitution and pornography in accordance with the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child as suggested by Canada.

Further, the government could not support recommendations to eliminate corporal punishment from legislation in accordance with the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the Convention on the Rights of the Child suggested by Chile; nor could it agree to prioritise efforts to prohibit corporal punishment of children and adults, or allocate resources to allow the full implementation of the Convention of the Rights of the Child as recommended by Sweden.[June 11, 2010]