The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A LOCAL activist has highlighted the need for more police training as it relates to women’s rights in the country, days after a woman was indecently assaulted by a man with whom she was forced to share a cell.

Rochelle Dean, a representative of Women’s Human Rights Campaign Bahamas, said the recent assault of a woman who was in police custody has renewed concerns about women’s rights in the nation, including societal views about the issue.

She spoke after a 32-year-old man was charged on Monday with the indecent assault of a 25-year-old woman in whose presence he masturbated. The woman said the accused also threatened to rape her while the two were detained in a holding cell at the East Street South Police Station on October 21.

The man pleaded guilty to the assault charge during his arraignment.

Speaking to The Tribune on Friday, Ms Dean raised alarm about the incident which she described as deeply concerning.

“We were concerned about what occurred as it relates to women being subjected to indecent assault while detained by the Royal Bahamas Police Force so our concerns definitely speak to the social architecture of the country and how officers within the organisation view women’s rights and particularly matters that arise from gender and sex,” she told this newspaper.

“So, of course, we know just the mere fact that they had both of these individuals in the cell that were male and female, it speaks to sex within itself and these concerns arise from whether or not due to lack of resources, they placed both of them in the cell or whether they felt that they were minor offences that they didn’t see an issue with, both of them being in the cells, which of course speaks to women not being protected.”

The activist said the troubling incident speaks to the need for more educational awareness about women’s rights, especially among police officers.

She also called for law enforcement officials to conduct a review of their current policies to ensure that they are “aligned with making sure women are protected” and added that the body is open to having discussions on the matter.

“We are concerned about women’s rights and it’s a huge issue for us,” she continued. "Neutral spaces are not a part of our societal framework. Of course, we know the recommendations by UNHRC (United Nations Human Rights Council) were rejected. We still maintain Christian values within our culture and so for that reason, that’s a major concern as to how that happened, whether it was malicious because as you know it’s very baffling to consider that that happened…so these are things very important for us and we’re also looking at whether or not those policies need to change in particular to protect women and that has to do with the organisational structure of the police force.”

She also said: “So we kind of wanted to make the minister of national security aware that we are prepared to sit and meet with him and determine exactly how the policies are aligned with making sure that women are protected.”

National Security Minister Wayne Munroe has previously said that the officers on duty during the incident will be “held to account” while stressing that his ministry has no interest whatsoever “in defending or protecting slack people.”

“The system will hold whoever is responsible to account and these things must be explained,” Mr Munroe told reporters on Tuesday. “Firstly, it is astounding that it could happen and secondly, if it was a detention officer and he is not honest in what he writes on the detention record, that is even more problematic and so none of us have any issues (or) any interest in defending or protecting slack people.”