FORT Charlotte MP Alfred Sears and St Anne’s MP Adrian White.
By JADE RUSSELL
Tribune Staff Reporter
jrussell@tribunemedia.net
FORT Charlotte MP Alfred Sears and St Anne’s MP Adrian White said yesterday that they support criminalising marital rape.
Golden Isles MP Vaughn Miller’s views were less clear. He told reporters “rape is rape,” but said he did not want to discuss the matter until later.
The parliamentarians were the latest to be asked their views on the topic as the Davis administration weighs amending the Sexual Offences Act to make marital rape unlawful.
“During the debate and when the debate comes before Parliament, I can state as the Member of Parliament for Fort Charlotte, that I support the criminalisation of rape in any circumstances,” Mr Sears, the Minister for Works and Utilities, said.
“That’s my position and I’ve stated my position without any ambiguity.”
Mr White said: “My stance on marital rape is that it should be criminalised. Relationships are complicated whether you’re married or not married. But the rights of a woman (and) the rights of a man, in a marital relationship, not to be forced to do something that they’re not consenting to, should be a punishable offence.”
“We have a punishment right now for those that rape outside of marriage. And consideration needs to be given to whether the punishment to rape inside of marriage is equivalent to what it is outside, or if it’s slightly different.”
Mr White said rape in marriage should lead to the dissolution of that marriage.
“The bottom line is if rape is ever a question in a marriage, that married couple should get counselling and realistically, it’s probably that relationship is over,” he said. “And it should come to an end not only for the benefit of the husband and for the wife, but also the children that live in that household.”
Last week, House Speaker Patricia Deveaux said she abhors rape but couldn’t say whether marital rape should be criminalised because she isn’t married.
Her comments enraged some Bahamians.
Reacting to her comments, Mr White said: “A lot of people did not agree with her response. But I will give her credit because she did put herself forward and go on the record for doing that. So, we have to take individuals where they are. And as a society, we have to bring everybody together so we’re on the same page. And right now, the page that we need to be on is considering what punishments should be in place for marital rape after it’s criminalised.”
Asked about his position, Mr Miller said: “Rape is rape. What’s the difference with marital rape and whatever rape? Rape is rape.”
Pressed on the matter, he said: “This is something I’m very passionate about, but I don’t want to speak to it. But believe me, I’m very passionate about it and at some point publicly, I will make my views known wholeheartedly but I really don’t want to speak to it prematurely, I don’t want to speak to it now.”
Comments
benniesun 1 year, 6 months ago
Possession is the Essence of Marriage
https://www.henrymakow.com/theres_a_pla…
Maybe the govmin' dem should pass a bill annulling and outlawing all marriages; then there would not be anymore pesky marital rape issues.
Women Alienated from Men https://henrymakow.com/001904.html
Why All Porn is Gay https://www.henrymakow.com/001421.html
LastManStanding 1 year, 6 months ago
I don't think anyone in their right mind expects a woman to get raped inside of marriage, but the problem is that no one I have spoken to on this topic can explain to me how a man is supposed to be convicted of this crime without relying solely on hearsay. Quite frankly, false accusations regarding sexual crimes is a massive problem in Westernized countries and has contributed to the plummeting birthrates and societal dysfunction that we are witnessing in those nations today. Women absolutely need to protected in marriage, but men need to be protected from false accusations that abuse the judicial process with the sole aim to tarnish and destroy the reputation of the man being accused as well. The issue needs to be addressed in a way that is fair to both men and women.
carltonr61 1 year, 6 months ago
At least these MPs could hear the voices of wives. Why are wives opinions left out of the rquation and they are being dictated to by persons who have not bore the pain of 1 to 8 children and remain within the Sacred Marritial bond fir mire than 60 years. At the very least, our elder married community should have a guiding hand. Why us the lgqtrb having so much say in God's business? Let them pen a scripture on same sex rape then see if they will jail their own. Gay kill gay murder in The Bahamasis always swept under the rug. It is dangerous, that a wife seeking divorce, the house the land and alimony only need push the rape button on an unsuspecting husband after a very joyous night or as popular person is finding out the Biblical spite of a woman. https://gate.ngo/un-legal-gender-recogn…
The Bahamas will further be eroded, as we will next be called to adapt so called Self Identity. God made us man and woman. But now God is buried as persons can declare their own sex as legally as a naked wife running off go the police station saying her husband just raped her.
birdiestrachan 1 year, 6 months ago
Free press not really ,it is decided what can have comments, the FNM Government hypocrites as usual , they could have passed the marital rape law, they did not, Mr Sears brilliant as you are how will this law work if a married man and woman sleep in the same bed and live in the same house
carltonr61 1 year, 6 months ago
Any wife could pull a Lewinsky style semen fact. So a wife has husbands semen in her he is charged with rape. Exhibit "A", signs of forced entry and bruising and seven. Guilty if rape. Just what will be considered criteria? Guess she has to make the recording guess that is premeditated. She could have asked fir it rough in another room. But in Mr. Brennan 2923 data on marriages in The Bahamas....
https://www.soencouragement.org/stats20…
MP White, considering family, may be onto something. The highest percentage divorces in the Bahamas take place after X amount of years or X on age, both on the highest scale.
In most cases inthe best economic satisfaction fir the wife. The husband most often after divorce is left homeless at a very vulnerable older age with questionable employment prospects. Data above shows a hefty amount of divorced women being remarried. It appears as though wives go the rape then divorce route I'd there is something to gain to show off with after abandoning the breadwinner. USA divorce data shows poor people don't do the divorce thing for rape. Rape is mostly reported among the political class and filthy rich whereby reputation matters.
So following USA divorce data, the first to be impacted are those men who have substantial assets. Sadly, they are the political class. It will be nice to see dem two above marching off to the cleaners while we laugh, reminding them of their vote. Those brothers better learn the ways of a woman Solomon discovered as the Biblical wise man. But first man Adam get messed. So too strongest man, Sampson. Ahh, but you know- only the Bahamas Christian Council believes in the wisdom of the Bible- the political class only use it as a one minute palm resting place once every five years.
themessenger 1 year, 6 months ago
"Any wife could pull a Lewinsky style semen fact." @carlton61, what Bahamian women should do in those circumstances is do a Loreena Bobbitt instead of a Lewinsky, cut off the offending member and throw it out the car window while driving down Tonique Williams Highway. She wouldn't have to worry 'bout dat doggie runnin wild in da bush no more, Lol!
carltonr61 1 year, 6 months ago
Now THAT could hurt a man's ego for life @messemger.
Feminacide = gender based violence. Miss Wallace is using intellectual bending a lot. Domestic violence between lgbbq also takes place. Bit she never terms it gender violence. When a female is attacked simply for being female, then that is gender violence. In countries where gender violence occurs the attacker never never never knows the victim. If a gay man attacks his gay lover Miss Wallace is that an attack on a male or domestic violence? Our 2023 Police Report shows infinitesimal marritial rape enough to firm a global hysteria show that has been launched by all media houses. I wonder if they receive grants for this falsification pressure. Our Police report lists as nil also femacide where a victims are attacked based on gender. We gang violence, child abuse but zero violence based on gender alone. When I here our church denominational leaderships calling to end marritial rape with zero data just loud mouth hysteria, I wonder our Chrustian Leadership. Only the Baptists are standing up to this blatant untruth spouted daily and repetitively by media with big funding to outdo each other. Media should be made to account with specific data to warrant a change to our constitution. Hitler used the sane tactic in repeating a lie for years. Let's not get domestic violence mixed up with gender specific violence. Lesbians chap up lesbians more than males who attack in domestic anger or love issues.
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