The Tribune

By MALCOLM STRACHAN

THE spectre of crime loomed large over The Bahamas last week.

First, there was the report by Police Commissioner Paul Rolle detailing a rise in crimes against the person including murder. Then, on Friday, came the Gender-Based Violence National Discriminatory Law Review Forum. Neither event provided much in the way of comfort.

The murder rate shot up by 63 percent, with 119 murders in 2021 compared with 73 in 2020. Commissioner Rolle talked of “the easy availability of guns” and efforts to “stem the flow of these illegal firearms” but nothing has changed there over the years. What he didn’t mention was his comments of last year when he dismissed a connection between COVID lockdowns and a reduction in crime. In fact he dismissed such talk as “nonsense”, instead saying “the least that people could do is credit us when we get a reduction, so I mean I commend our officers for the work that they’ve done and continue to do. That has nothing to do with COVID.”

If we were to take him at his word, that must mean the past year has seen appalling police work with a 63 percent rise in murders, but, of course, he was the one talking nonsense last year. What we’re seeing is things going back to pretty much the way they were, as sad and as terrible as that is.

So, we know there is a level of crime that is above what it should be, the question is what can and will be done about it.

One of the most depressing elements to come out of Commissioner Rolle’s press conference was the news that domestic violence cases had increased by 19 percent. That’s depressing enough on its own, but worse was the suggested response, that the policing plan would place “renewed focus” on the matter. Is that it? Renewed focus? How about increased funding, specific strategies detailed for the public to hear, and so on?

The murder of Heavenly Terveus by her boyfriend may be the most prominent case recently to put the spotlight on gender-based violence, but it’s far from the only one. The courts are filled on a regular basis with men abusing ex-girlfriends or inflicting violence on women. Commissioner Rolle has previously said he doesn’t know why women don’t just get out at the first sign of violence, and despite the amount of commentary since then to point out that women often can’t get out and have nowhere to run to, all we have is a “renewed focus” and not, say, an increase in funding for women’s shelters so they have somewhere as an escape.

There is also a contradiction between the figures paraded by Commissioner Rolle and the discussion at the law forum on Friday. Commissioner Rolle said there was a 23 percent drop in cases of unlawful sexual intercourse – to 125 from 163 – and attempted rapes remaining at a largely similar though unlikely number of six rather than five the year before. It seems implausible there were so few such cases in comparison with the number of successful rapes – far more likely these cases have just gone unreported.

The forum, meanwhile, included a claim that The Bahamas has the highest rape rate in the region. Attorney Leila Greene, formerly of the Office of the Attorney General and the Ministry of Legal Affairs, said that statistics provided by the United Nations shows the rape rate in our country is 133 per 100,000, compared with the average rate around the world of 15.

“That is very alarming,” said Ms Greene. “I think anybody who takes the statistics and looks at them will understand that The Bahamas is a very dangerous place.”

Other countries by comparison included St Vincent and the Grenadines at 112 per 100,000; Jamaica at 51; Dominica at 34; Barbados at 25; and Trinidad and Tobago at 18.

These figures should be shocking, but time and time again we hear stories of domestic violence, of women being beaten, raped and abused – and yet what is being done?

Initially, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis shrugged off the prospect of dealing with marital rape as part of his government’s agenda, though the outcry that brought about seems to have pushed it onto his table.

If there is one thing that is encouraging, it is that Mr Davis has pledged to take recommendations at the forum into account when it comes to drafting new legislation for women’s rights and safety.

In truth, he needs to look little further than the report written by the National Task Force for Gender-Based Violence back in 2015, and coming into office, his party’s agenda could have had its policy for dealing with such cases already laid out.

There are a range of actions that can be carried out, what must not be done is simply to nod, acknowledge there is a problem and then do nothing about it.

In short, we must make sure that even though our response is too late, it must not be too little.

There is a chance to change things for all those future victims of domestic violence. And after all, if violence is accepted in the home, is it any surprise that it continues to surge in the street? We need a change, for all our sakes.