The Tribune

LAST week, we were notified that a serial sexual offender would be released from prison. We are also told that he was not and is not rehabilitated and that it has been clear that he will continue to sexually violate women. The Minister of National Security said the sexual offender is “unable or unwilling to control his urges to commit sexual offences”.

The minister seems to believe he has done us a favour by giving us this information with which we are expected to “protect” ourselves. This is, unfortunately, consistent with what we have seen from the government of The Bahamas in its complete failure to address gender-based violence and its insistence on talking about “protection” rather than taking action to end violence through, for example, comprehensive sexuality education in all schools, conflict resolution in all schools, reform of discriminatory law, improved and integrated reporting mechanisms, and survivor support services.

In addition to the offences for which he was charged, the sexual offender “groped and indecently assaulted the female prosecutor in the court who was prosecuting him[…] in the presence of the magistrate”. He also sexually assaulted female correctional officers and a reporter while in prison. Based on the information provided, it does not seem that he was charged for those additions. The onus was, apparently, on the victim to report and press charges, even though at least one of them took place in the presence of a magistrate.

All of the details regarding the sexual offender are infuriating, in addition to his being released. Implicit in the announcement itself is that we are expected to protect ourselves from this sexual offender. We are supposed to remember his name and face, and we are supposed to actively avoid him. If we see him in a grocery store or a bank while we are in line and he appears to be coming our way, what are we to do? According to the minister, the sexual offender expressed that “[…]any woman he regards as attractive who is near him is liable to be groped and indecently assaulted”. How are we supposed to know if we are targets? Why are we expected to know, or to guess, or to somehow know the exact action to take?

The announcement of this sexual offender’s release invoked fear. It has also raised questions about the way the government views women and girls, sexual offences, and the “justice” system. Why is it possible for such a deranged and dangerous person to be released from prison, and without being rehabilitated or demonstrating any willingness to change his behaviour? This is the way the system was cobbled together for dysfunction.

Rapists and other sexual offenders are sent to prison to get the treatment the public generally thinks they deserve, living in inhumane conditions, and are released into the public where we do not even have the expectation of safety. Punishment is not rehabilitation, and we put ourselves at risk when we allow the punished and non-rehabilitated to rejoin society where they are likely to reoffend. What is going to be done about this?

In addition to putting our “protection” in our own hands, the announcement from the Minister of National Security on the release of the sexual offender included victim blaming. This is, unfortunately, not unusual as we are steeped in rape culture which convinces people that people are raped and experience other forms of sexual assault because of something they have done or failed to do. Victim blaming is common in the “advice” the police share verbally and in writing in newspaper multiple times per year. They tell us, in short, to make our worlds smaller and our lives more insular to avoid being violated by men.

The Minister of National Security, speaking of the released sexual offender, said, “Women invite him to touch them when they wear short clothes, or wear tight clothes, or smile, or lick their lips, or bend over, or move their hops, or blink their eyes, or cross their legs.”

This may be what the sexual offender said, but it should not have been repeated by the Minister of National Security in this way, and certainly not without a clear indication that this is ridiculous and that rape and other forms of sexual assault are not about sexual attraction or sex, but power and control. Repeating this nonsense perpetuates rape culture and the idea that women and girls and all victims of sexual violence are responsible for preventing sexual violence. The Minister of National Security determined that the sexual offender “[…]is a danger to the public at large. In order to protect the public, we are notifying the public of his release[…].” Somehow, making this announcement is “protection”. We have the information, and now it is on us to act.

What about when our protective actions are “illegal”?

There was a recent report of an 11-year-old child who was raped by her mother’s husband or boyfriend. (Different language has been used in different reports). The Minister of National Security, when speaking on this case, suggested that the police investigate the abortion that was provided to the child because it was “illegal”.

Predictably, anti-rights people under the banner of “the church” stated their position against access to this critical healthcare, even for children who were raped and whose bodies are not fully developed and not ready for pregnancy, much less birth. They continue to be selective in where they see “sanctity”, apparently deeming the life of the 11-year-old less than holy.

The same anti-rights religious leader who campaigned for people to vote no in the 2016 referendum and who opposed criminalisation of marital rape said: “We got to uphold the laws, not try to amend our laws to accommodate these types of violations.”

It is clear that these people do not care about women and do not care about children. They want to dominate, control, and have power over women and girls. Our health and wellbeing are non-factors to these anti-rights people. They are committed misusing and abusing biblical text to compel us to suspend and ignore our rights and to suffer through this life, for the promise of a better afterlife while they enjoy power and control in this one. No religion or religious text, in this secular State, should be more powerful than the human rights to which we are all entitled. It is the government that is responsible for making this clear, and it is the government that has allowed anti-rights people to take centre stage and set dangerous narratives while it kow-tows to their nonsense.

Abortion is healthcare. It is a person’s right to decide that they do not want to be pregnant and do not want to carry a pregnancy to term. There are many reasons a person may have to terminate a pregnancy, and those reasons are not owed to anyone. The Bahamas currently criminalises abortion with the exception of a few circumstances. Our laws are antiquated and anti-rights, and they must change.

In 2018, The Bahamas participated in the periodic review of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) which it ratified in 1993. The CEDAW Committee read the reports from the government and Equality Bahamas which submitted a shadow report, and it prepared questions for the State. There were oral statements from representatives of the non-governmental organisations and there was an interactive dialogue with the State. Following the review, in its concluding observations, the CEDAW Committee made a set of recommendations to The Bahamas to move it toward compliance with the Convention. Those recommendations included the decriminalisation of abortion in all cases and the provision of access to high quality post-abortion care, especially where there are complications due to unsafe abortion.

It is important to understand that, as long as there are unwanted pregnancies, there will be abortions. Decriminalising abortion ensures that it is available through and with the supervision and support of healthcare providers. When it is criminalised, it is more difficult to access, and people find other ways to terminate pregnancies. If we are truly considered about saving lives, and if we care about women and girls, and if we believe in the sanctity of life, we will call for the decriminalisation of abortion and ensure that abortion is legalized in cases of rape and incest. This is not about religion.

This is about ending violence, reducing trauma, increasing access to healthcare, and respecting the rights of women and girls. There is no holiness in rape or incest. There is no sacredness in the violence that is the pregnancy of a child. See the sanctity of women and children, even in our distress, our pain, our struggle to survive, and consider that the sanctity of our lives is what entitles us to access our human rights. Know that this is far more important than personal opinions or belief systems. We have the right to be free from violence, and when that right is violated, the least the government can do is ensure that we have access to justice and healing, and they must be determined by us.