The Tribune

By Khrisna russell

Deputy Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

AS HE denounced MICAL MP Miriam Emmanuel’s “ill-advised” comments yesterday, Attorney General Carl Bethel said no form of domestic violence is tolerated by Bahamian law, adding the country is beyond the days of patrimonial control of the family.

Speaking in the Senate, Mr Bethel said domestic violence is not to be joked about as was the case in Parliament on Wednesday.

“As the leader of government business in this place and the attorney general for this great country,” Mr Bethel said.

“I have taken note of certain ill-advised comments that were made by a member of the other place yesterday (Wednesday) pertaining to an illusion or an equivocation of the Speaker exercising authority in the House and unfortunate domestic situations that often or may arise in the country.

“The speaker of those comments immediately and to her credit gave a full and unreserved apology for that. I do, however, feel the obligation as attorney general to state for the record that no form of domestic violence can be tolerated under our law or in any way in this Commonwealth of the Bahamas,” Mr Bethel said.

“We are beyond those days of what they would call in the old days the patrimonial control of the family. That is over. The modern world would recognise the partnership and consensual based nature of marriage and would also affirm the absolute equality of women and men and the absolute integrity that must be given and accorded to every human being, which is a sacred thing not to be violated whether in the bonds of marriage or not to be joked about as occurred in the last Parliament.”

He continued: “So I simply say on behalf of the government that we affirm our full commitment to the full equality and the full integrity of every human being male or female and under no circumstances can we condone or make light of domestic violence. That being said, the speaker who erred in that way has made a full and absolute apology and I do believe as a society we should accept that apology and let us now move on to a higher level of civil discourse in our society.”

In the House on Wednesday, Mrs Emmanuel spoke during a moment where members of Parliament were giving words of support to Speaker Halson Moultrie over the disciplinary action he decided to take against Englerston MP Glenys Hanna Martin.

“I am the seventh of 10 daughters and I recall as we began to mature and take on marriage and family, one of the things that my father often say to us as his daughters, if you want to remain a lady, if you want to remain treated as a lady, then you must behave like a lady,” the first time MP said at the time.

“And he said if there ever comes a time when you have to come back to this house and say to me as your father that your husband shook you, or give you a slap or punch you in your mouth, I will analyse while I listen to you. I will analyse the consequences that would have caused your husband to probably shake you, slap you or punch you in your mouth.”

Mrs Emmanuel continued: “And I said simply what my father was saying that we are to respect each other, have respect for your priest, your provider and your protector. So in this honourable House it’s no exception from a marriage relationship if you as a woman want to come up in your husband’s face and behave like you are a man, my father said then you will get manhandled.”

These comments drew condemnation on Wednesday with one women’s rights advocate, Donna Nicolls, director of the Bahamas Crisis Centre calling for her resignation.

Hours later, Mrs Emmanuel “sincerely apologised” for the comments. She said her remarks were taken out of context and misunderstood, adding she did not condone domestic violence of any kind.

This situation has again highlighted that there are no women in Parliament who recognise the need to adopt domestic and gender based violence as their portfolio, attorney and United Nations expert Marion Bethel told The Tribune yesterday.

She said many women in Parliament do not understand they are “token” representatives who tow the party line blindly and happily with the power they are given by male counterparts.

Ms Bethel said it was “outrageous” that Mrs Emmanuel as the leader of a church did not understand before she opened her mouth the severity of the comments leading the attorney to question the message the MP was promoting from the pulpit.

“The point I want to make is the apology is a start that says the person understands they’ve made a big mistake. But what needs to happen is that a really serious gender sensitive awareness and education and the person has to want this to happen.

“My further understanding is Mrs Emmanuel heads a church and this is really just outrageous that the leader of a church has this kind of a position and that she is a woman. So I can only imagine what women are getting from the pulpit: stay in your place and tolerate violence.

“So an apology is a beginning. It needs to go much further than that. Mrs Emmanuel needs to be stepping up to the plate right now to be asking for a real informed position and understanding of gender based violence and really try to understand what she was promoting perhaps unwittingly and that could be more dangerous,” Ms Bethel said.

Former Social Services Minister Melanie Griffin added that women in this country have no strong voice to represent them in the lower house outside of opposition Mrs Hanna Martin, who was suspended from the House last week. The PLP has said Mrs Hanna Martin has been the target of disciplinary action in the House of Assembly because she has advocated for the rights of two women who were fired from their jobs at airports in Eleuthera.