The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

ANN Marie Davis, the wife of Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, said she hopes the Gender-Based Violence bill will be passed before the country hosts the 13th Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Ministers Meeting in August.

Her comment came as Social Services Minister Obie Wilchcombe said the bill would be tabled in the House of Assembly in the next two weeks.

“It’s near finished,” Mr Wilchcombe told reporters outside the House of Assembly. “The attorney general now has completed the final draft and we’re ready to go.”

“We’ll be talking about a number of mechanisms: how we deal with issues, how we respond to issues, the protection of women and children. You must remember the NGOs who’ve been out here in the forefront arguing for a very long time about protection. They want to make sure that all the T’s are crossed, all the I’s are dotted and that we’re getting where we want to go. I feel very good about it, it’s been going on for a while now.”

The bill will not address marital rape, though Mr Wilchcombe expected a meeting about that to be held with Baptist church representatives yesterday.

For her part, Ms Davis supported the benefits of the bill.

“We’re going to push when the GBV bill is passed, which we know it will,” she said. “We would be so much more excited and energized to do a lot more advocating and educating about what the bill is about and what we can and cannot do.”

Asked about the lengthy wait for the bill to be debated and passed, Mrs Davis said: “I thought it took a while. I knew it was in the consultancy stages and I’m happy that’s finished now. The minister said that the people had to have their say, which I agree with. A consultation is always important on a widespread level.”

Police recently reported an increase in sexual assault reports.

“I have been saddened in the last few days when I saw Monday’s papers about the string of sexual assaults, rapes that happened over the weekend, and how many more sex crimes are being committed,” Mrs Davis said. “We have to look at this with a very broad perspective. We have to attack this problem through mental health solutions.”