Conditions For Marital Rape to be Eliminated in Law

Written By: Latonya Linton July 15, 2023

Eliminating the conditions for marital rape are among matters that will be addressed in the amendments to be made to the Offences Against the Person Act.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith, explained that when the Act was passed in 2009, it provided for conditions to be met in order for a wife to claim rape.

“There are specific things that allow you to be able to claim that you were raped in marriage. It should not be that a married woman has less rights than an unmarried woman. Both of us should have the rights over our bodies and that is what was greed by the [Joint Select] Committee [which deliberated on the Act]. So, when the Act is amended, it will delete all the preconditions for claim of marital rape. Again, its about respect and the rights over our bodies,” she noted.

The Minister was addressing a regional conference on women’s political and parliamentary leadership, at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on Wednesday (July 12), where she outlined legislative measures being undertaken to protect women.

Among the conditions attached to the offence of marital rape in the Act are that:

• The spouses have separated and live separate and apart as defined by the matrimonial cause act;

• There is in existence a separation agreement;

• Divorce or proceedings to nullify the marriage have been filed;

• Acts or threats of physical violence, harm or injury are imposed on a spouse before or during sex;

• The spouse knowingly suffers from a sexually transmissible disease.

Senator Johnson Smith said the amendments to the Act will also include an offence of stalking, so that women are protected outside of relationships.

“If you are harassed by a stalker, that offence does not exist and it needs to exist within the Offences Against the Person Act, so that the Cybercrimes Act can criminalise it.

“So, whether you are in a relationship or not, if you are being stalked and you are in fear, that is an actionable crime that can be prosecuted, and you can get a protective order. You can prevent the greater crimes that usually come as a result of stalking, which [include] rape or murder,” she outlined.

Senator Johnson Smith further cited the Sexual Harassment Act, which is now in effect.

She commended the efforts of the Bureau of Gender Affairs “in working through this year of transition since [the Act] was passed to try to share some of the information about it”.

“I look forward to even greater public sensitisation to ensure that the simplified information is made clear, and that people understand that nobody is outlawing flirting, but when an advance is unwanted, it is unwanted,” Senator Johnson Smith said.

The legislation addresses concerns about sexual harassment that are employment-related, occurring in institutions, or arising in the landlord and tenant relationship.

The Sexual Harassment Act contains provisions for dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace, schools, correctional institutions, places of safety, nursing homes, medical and psychiatric facilities, among other places.

Source: Jamaica Information Service

Godfather of Toasting Master of Ceremony

Fatta Carey

Fatta Carey is Texas’s Godfather of Toasting, a Jamaican music art of talking or chanting in monotone melody over a rhythm or beat. Today the art is simply called deejay. He was born in Ocho Rios in the parish of St Ann, the greatest parish in Jamaica and the home to Jamaican greats: Bob Marley, Marcus Garvey, Burning Spear and Shabba Ranks. Fatta developed the passion for deejay at a very young age with his uncles, Silly and King Mellow, bringing his musical therapy in his yard and later to local clubs around Jamaica. He was never afraid to go too deep with his firing dancing musical selections.

Fatta took a much larger role upon his arrival in the United States performing in large clubs in Miami and New York to crowds hungry for his deejay art form. His prominence rose a hundredfold when he relocated to Houston. Fatta worked with the great Mikey Faith Sounds. In the 90s, he worked with DJ Marcus Love at KTSU 90.9 radio. Later, he brought his art to 97.9 The Box with GT on The Reggae Zone. Beginning in 1992, he teamed up with the turntable genius, DJ Goldfinga, and in 2015, they created DJ LEVELZ. The duo joined forces and now dominate the Houston dancehall scene.

For over twenty-five years, Fatta with DJ LEVELZ have been providing the Houston crowd with their reggae-based rhythms pulling from many of the Caribbean genres, including Afrobeat, R&B, Soca, Zouk, and even Latin sounds of Salsa and Merengue. Together, they have garnered a massive following to earn the most revered working duo to command the dance scene in Houston.

Leighton Allen

Describing his art, Fatta explained that his love for deejay goes beyond the spectrum of mixing tunes, but to the engagement of the crowds on stage as he brings to Texas the rhythms and vibes of his Caribbean culture. It’s ingrained in each and every performance.

He is a family man to his wife, Marsha with four daughters and five grandchildren. SD