RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Support the #Strike5ive campaign to criminalise marital rape.

It calls for “who is not his spouse” to be removed from the definition of rape in Section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act. It also calls for a statutory definition of consent and a clause of marital non-immunity to ensure that an offender cannot use marriage to the survivor or victim as a defense. It is clear that there must be no temporal limitation and the consent of the Attorney General must not be required for prosecution (as these were included in the 2018 amendment bill which was rejected). Marital rape needs to be criminalized because all forms of violence are wrong and there is no excuse for rape. There is no need for debate, and there are not two sides. The truth is that women have human rights, and that means women must be protected from violence, including sexual violence, regardless of marital status.

2. Join Feminist Book Club with Equality Bahamas and Poinciana Paper Press.

The next meeting is on Thursday, March 23, at 6pm. Join in person at Poinciana Paper Press, 12 Parkgate Road (between Kemp and Village Roads) or online via Zoom. Either way, register at tiny.cc/fbc2023 to receive more information. The book for March is Getting Lost by Annie Ernaux. In April, the club will read Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code by Ruha Benjamin.