The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Tribune Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis said it is possible the issue of marital rape could be dealt with legislatively by his administration during this term in office.

He said following a recent Social Services and Urban Development conference that examined the inequalities between men and women in law, Attorney General Ryan Pinder was given the mandate to act on recommendations coming out of that event.

Mr Davis made the comment following the announcement of two new ambassadors yesterday at the Balmoral Club.

“Thursday and Friday of last week the Minister of Social Services and Urban Development held a conference to examine what I call the inequalities in the discriminatory laws to determine a way forward as to what adjustments we have to make to our laws on the issue that are inequitable between the genders and any other discriminatory laws,” Mr Davis told reporters.

“The issue of rape came up as well whether you call it marital or otherwise. Rape is rape.

“I don’t want to get into the description of rape and I’ve given the Attorney General (Ryan Pinder) the mandate to follow the recommendations that were given through that conference that was held last week.

 “You’ll see what the recommendations are from there and we’ll move to enact what laws that were recommended by them to the Attorney General that is deemed appropriate by the Cabinet.”

 Asked if this could happen within his term in office, Mr Davis said: “It could come up in this case, yes.”

 Mr Davis also responded to critics of his administration’s legislative agenda.

 “What is the legislative agenda? Not everything is achieved through the parliamentary or legislative regime. There are many initiatives that don’t require what I call parliamentary intervention for the purposes of enacting laws. So, it is important to understand what do they mean by legislative agenda. What legislation that they think we ought to have been producing, or presenting, or laying on the table that has not been laid.

 “We have our agenda and we are moving by our agenda where our initiatives require parliamentary intervention by legislation, then there is legislation that will be laid, tabled debated and passed.”

 Last November, Press Secretary Clint Watson said a national conversation that reflects the public’s will could drive the issue of marital rape to the forefront of the Davis administration’s legislative agenda.

 His comment followed a tweet on Mr Davis’ Twitter account saying marital rape is wrong and that the country remained one of the few in the world where this was not recognised in law. His tweet also noted that should there be a change in this regard he supported a national conversation.

 Asked by The Tribune about the issue in November, Mr Watson was adamant that the will of the people would be best articulated through nationwide discourse on marital rape. He said people should not just look to the government for a decision, but seek to learn the positions of groups like the Bahamas Christian Council, as well as human rights and civic groups.