Press Release: Reclaiming Human Rights: End Gender-Based Killing of Women and Girls

RECLAIMING HUMAN RIGHTS: END GENDER-BASED KILLING OF WOMEN AND GIRLS

December 11, 2025

 

The Global 16 Days Campaign (Against Gender-Based Violence) closed on December 10, Human Rights Day, signalling the beginning of a new year of advocacy for gender equality and the end of gender-based violence. Equality Bahamas hosted its annual event series, this year with the theme of Reclaiming Rights, recognizing the violence enacted by anti-rights groups in all spheres and at all levels and the need to equip people with the tools to advocate for peace and equality. Event recordings are available on its YouTube channel and community art created in workshops with Poinciana Paper Press will be on display at the open house on Saturday, December 13 from noon to 6pm at 12 Parkgate Road.

At the close of the Global 16 Days Campaign, Equality Bahamas restates its demands that the Government of The Bahamas update and pass the gender-based violence bill, criminalize marital rape by removing “who is not his spouse” from the definition of rape in Article 3 of the Sexual Offenses Act, record and publicly report on the gender-based killing of women and girls as femicide, and fully comply with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and provide information on the Convention to the public. 

Equality Bahamas remembers the many women and girls whose gender-based murders have not been officially named or counted as femicide—a failure of the Government of The Bahamas. Director of Equality Bahamas Alicia Wallace said, “We remember the murder of Lauren Saunders this year. We remember the rapes and murders of 12-year-old Adriel Moxey and 72-year-old Vernencha Butler in 2024. We remember the names of the people that made headlines, year after year, and the stories that were briefly discussed and, eventually, forgotten by many.” While the news cycle encourages forgetting, Equality Bahamas calls on the public to be attentive to cases of gender-based violence and to build collective power to create a different environment for future generations.

As the 2026 general election draws near, Equality Bahamas calls on members of the public to take active roles in governance. In January 2026, it will continue its Feminist Standards for Governance workshops, inviting people to contribute to a people’s agenda for 2026 to 2031, setting priorities in critical areas including education, health, social services, women and LGBTQI+ people, youth, and environment. 

Ms. Wallace said, “These workshops are a space for small groups to talk about pressing issues, identify the root causes, and develop solutions that address the issues and their systemic underpinnings. Everyone is welcome to participate in the process, bringing their own experiences and perspectives to strengthen the output.” Registration for 2026 sessions will open on December 16 at tiny.cc/feministstandards.

Equality Bahamas is a feminist organization that promotes women’s and LGBTQI+ people’s rights as human rights through advocacy, public education, and community engagement.

Press Release: Miller’s Comment Emblematic of Misogyny

MILLER’S COMMENT EMBLEMATIC OF MISOGYNY 

September 8, 2025

 

Equality Bahamas condemns the misogynistic comment, referring to Free National Movement Senator Michaela Barnett-Ellis as a “little young girl,” by former Progressive Liberal Party Member of Parliament Leslie Miller. 

Miller’s comments are emblematic of the misogyny that persists in both systems and practices at every level, with women and girls experiencing the most devastating impact. Direct gender-based attacks on women in frontline politics and failure to rebuke them foster an environment of violence and inequality. 

“Comments like Miller’s reinforce ignorant, harmful ideas about women. What misogynists think we ought to do becomes, for the small-minded, conflated with what we are capable of doing and have the right to do,” said Alicia Wallace, Founder and Director of Equality Bahamas. “As a result, the pursuit of positions of leadership in political and public life is different for women than it is for men, necessitating enabling mechanisms for women’s equal participation and leadership.”

In The Bahamas, only 18% of parliamentarians are women. In the absence of a legislated quota—a temporary special measure to accelerate the equal participation of women in politics and public life—political parties make no effort to advance the rights of women or diversify their candidate slates through appropriate mechanisms or practices. This is evidence of their disinterest in moving toward gender equality.

The Bahamas ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1993. Article 7 of the Convention obligates the State to “take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the political and public life of the country” and includes the right to vote, stand for election, and hold public office. 

Ms. Wallace said, “The Government of The Bahamas makes commitments to human rights while ignoring the plight of women and girls at home, failing to address alarming rates of domestic and intimate partner violence, sexual violence against girls, or the disgusting, abusive rhetoric that that seeks to keep women out of political and public leadership.” 

In 2024, the CEDAW Committee published General Recommendation 40 (GR 40) on Equal and Inclusive Representation of Women in Decision-Making Systems. Its seven pillars include 50:50 parity between women and men as a starting point and a universal norm, effective youth leadership conditioned by parity, and intersectionality and inclusion of women in all their diversity in decision-making systems. It calls on States to “adopt legislative and other measures[…] to prevent and eradicate intersecting forms of discrimination and ensure substantive equality” and “develop recruitment strategies to ensure equal access by women in all their diversity to public positions in all areas of decision-making.”

Further, GR 40 calls on States to “adopt legislation and cooperate with media outlets to condemn, monitor and ensure accountability for sexism and misogyny[…]” 

There has been no response to the misogynistic comment from any political party, nor the Department of Gender and Family Affairs. Barnett-Ellis is not the first woman with the audacity to participate in political life, and she will not be last. The leaders of all political parties—particularly those relying on the support of women—ought to take action such that Miller is the last to make careless, disrespectful remarks about women, of any age, exercising the right to participate in frontline politics. Equality Bahamas will continue to participate in human rights mechanisms, inform the public of the commitments made, and hold the government to its commitments.

Equality Bahamas is a feminist organization that promotes women’s and LGBTQI+ people’s rights as human rights through advocacy, public education, and community engagement. 

 

Press Release: Provide Comprehensive Sexuality Education in All Schools

PROVIDE COMPREHENSIVE SEXUALITY EDUCATION IN ALL SCHOOLS

August 8, 2025

 

Increased reports of sexual violence against children have drawn attention to the danger young people live in. They are preyed upon by men who take advantage of their vulnerability, the failure of the education system to apprise them of the predation of adults, and the ineffectiveness of the legal and judicial systems. The stagnation of women’s rights, resulting from the disinterest of the Government of The Bahamas, has far-reaching effects for everyone, including children. 

“The Government of The Bahamas is well-aware of its obligations to promote, uphold, and expand access to human rights for everyone, and this is demonstrated by its performance in international spaces. It is only when these duty-bearers are at home, facing us, the Bahamian people, that they show their complete disregard for women and girls and our wellbeing,” said Equality Bahamas Director Alicia Wallace. “We reiterate our demand for the gender-based violence bill and the national gender policy to be appropriately updated, passed, and implemented.”

As a matter of priority, Equality Bahamas calls on the government to develop comprehensive sexuality education for all ages, immediately integrating it into the national curriculum. “The sexual predation of men and resulting violence against girls is supported by the continued refusal to educate children on sex, ensuring that they understand their bodies, consent, pleasure, the difference between sex and rape, contraceptive options, health services, the law,” said Ms. Wallace. “It is the responsibility of the government—along with parents and guardians, educators, and advocates—to ensure that children are equipped with the information they need to assess situations, make the best possible decisions for themselves, and seek support from people they can trust.”

Women’s rights and children’s rights extend beyond laws and policies. The exercise of rights requires knowledge of rights, supported by access to resources and services. Comprehensive sexuality education is critical to reducing sexual violence. Equality Bahamas calls on the public, incensed by the rape of children, to demand that the government end its culpability in gender-based violence against women and children and make comprehensive sexuality education available to all school-age children.

Equality Bahamas is a feminist organization that promotes women’s and LGBTQI+ people’s rights as human rights through advocacy, public education, and community engagement. 

 

Press Release: Our Urgency Is Not Measured By Politicians’ Ignorance

OUR URGENCY IS NOT MEASURED BY POLITICIANS’ IGNORANCE

May 20, 2025

 

Equality Bahamas notes the complicity of multiple government administrations, Prime Ministers, Attorneys General, Ministers of Social Services, and Foreign Affairs representatives in the stagnation of women’s rights and obscuring of the consistent work of women’s rights organizations. Comments by former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham are misleading and inflammatory, but not new or surprising.

“Only two years ago, then Press Secretary Clint Watson embarrassed himself with an attempt minimize the work of women’s rights organizations and advocates on the issue of marital rape. The unabashed ignorance continues, across party lines, generations, and levels of popularity and likeability,” said Equality Bahamas Director Alicia Wallace. 

Since the 2014 announcement of the constitutional referendum by then Prime Minister Perry Christie, Equality Bahamas has advocated for equal nationality rights. It was the first organization to organize training sessions and engage in public education on nationality rights, and it continues to be the nongovernmental organization leading this work. It is a member of the Global Campaign for Equality Nationality Rights and has collaborated with numerous organizations around the world that are working toward equal nationality rights. Equality Bahamas has consistently engaged with the Office of the Attorney General to follow up on the promised amendments to The Bahamas Nationality Act as an interim measure until the constitution can be amended.

“Men opposed to women’s rights continue to use their positions and influence to try to make our work invisible, but our work is well-documented. Their ignorance and disinterest does not and cannot erase or silence us,” said Ms. Wallace. “They erroneously suggest that it is our responsibility, as women—people experiencing discrimination and increasing levels of violence—to convince the government to make the changes necessary to advance women’s rights and move toward gender equality. The government is obligated to uphold human rights and to enact and amend laws and policies to align with international human rights standards. The men claiming women are not demanding equal rights are dishonest regarding their own objection to women’s rights and gender equality and the national consequences of their misogynistic positions. They hide behind falsehoods about the effort and impact of women’s rights organizations which they use to distract the public from their failures. They will not be allowed to publicly lie without public correction and admonishment,” Ms. Wallace said.

Building political will for the expansion of women’s rights is a longstanding challenge, particularly as the government favors anti-rights groups and parrots their misogynistic rhetoric. The Government of The Bahamas continues to fail to acknowledge its culpability in gender-based violence against women and to take action to remove structural barriers to gender equality.

The Government of The Bahamas has encountered Equality Bahamas in international fora and is aware that its work is not geographically limited. Equality Bahamas actively uses its technical expertise to pressure the government directly and engages the United Nations through its expert committees and Member States which make recommendations and pressure the State to protect, promote, and guarantee access to women’s human rights.

Equality Bahamas participated in the 2018 period review of The Bahamas on its compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the fourth cycle of the Universal Periodic Review in 2023, resulting in recommendations by Member States on gender equality in nationality law. 

 Equality Bahamas calls on the government to engage with the women’s rights organizations and advocates with technical expertise and clear recommendations on pressing issues including gender inequality in nationality rights, marital rape, and domestic violence. 

Equality Bahamas invites the public to watch recordings of events on nationality rights and a wide range of topics which are available on its YouTube channel and to join its mailing list—equality-bahamas.kit.com—to receive updates on its work and its upcoming nationality rights training and Feminist Standards for Governance workshops to develop the people’s priorities for 2026 to 2031.

Equality Bahamas is a feminist organization that promotes women’s and LGBTQI+ people’s rights as human rights through advocacy, public education, and community engagement. 

 

Press Release: Inaccessibility to Justice for Survivors of Gender-Based Violence

INACCESSIBILITY TO JUSTICE FOR SURVIVORS OF GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

 

Access to justice continues to be limited for survivors of gender-based violence, due in large part to the lack of comprehensive laws, inefficiency and corruption in law enforcement and the judicial system, victim-blaming, and the resulting shame and stigma which disproportionately impact survivors.  

That Member of Parliament Kirk Cornish was accused of physical and sexual violence and threats of death and remained in the position as Member of Parliament—a position of power and influence that undoubtedly affected the case— for the duration of the trial is violent and irresponsible.

Many women and girls have experienced violence perpetrated by people in positions of power and hesitate to report or, when they do report, cannot endure the long, difficult judicial process, or the harm that comes to them as a result. Corruption, abuse of power, and deliberate protection of violent criminals are deterrents to reporting gender-based violence and directly violate the human right to equal protection of the law.

The Government of The Bahamas has been urged by international human rights bodies—with which it voluntarily participates—to take specific actions, including passing the gender-based violence bill which it shelved in favor of the substandard, embarrassing, so-called “Protection Against Violence Act” which ignores the specific issue of gender-based violence. The government consistently communicates, in its action and inaction, that it does not value women and enjoys complicity in gender-based violence.

“Many survivors do not truly have the choice to report gender-based violence perpetrated against them or use the judicial system,” said Director of Equality Bahamas Alicia Wallace. “We advocate for all to have the choice, and we fiercely support all survivors and their right to seek and access justice within and beyond the judicial system.” 

“We, at Equality Bahamas, continue to stand with survivors. We respect and honor them for sharing their stories, and for not sharing until they feel safe doing so,” Ms. Wallace said. “The Government of The Bahamas, as a duty-bearer, must create the environment that makes it possible for survivors to report and access the justice they need, beyond current possibilities, and it must end gender-based violence.”

The Bahamas Women’s Health Survey, conducted by Sanigest Internacional, resulted in a proposed Coordinated Care Model, centering survivors and their needs, which has yet to be implemented despite the urgent need. Survivors have the right to report gender-based violence, expect and receive access to justice, and be provided with resources and services to support them long term. 

Equality Bahamas calls for survivor-centered justice which is not limited to court proceedings and imprisonment of perpetrators, but must include immediate medical attention, safe housing, responsive work conditions, reparations, and mental health support.

 

Equality Bahamas is a feminist organization that promotes women’s and LGBTQI+ people’s rights as human rights through advocacy, public education, and community engagement. 

 

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Press Release: Call for immediate ceasefire

Freedom, justice, equality

Joining the voices of nongovernmental organizations, feminist movements, and activists all over the world, Equality Bahamas calls for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the occupation of Palestine by Israel.

The genocide in Gaza is not an isolated event which can be ignored by Black people, Bahamian people, Caribbean people, or people of any other identities that have been colonized and systemically oppressed. Equality Bahamas condems the ongoing occupation, colonization, and genocide taking place in Palestine. 

Palestine was colonized by the British in 1920 and, in 1948, the land was “given” to the Jewish people—stolen from Indigenous Palestinians—for the creation of Israel. More than 85% of historic Palestine is now occupied and under Israeli military control.

Palestine, which continues to shrink by the day, has had over 700 checkpoints enforced for Palestinians, Jewish-only road systems, and ongoing restrictions of water and electricity. In addition, Palestinians are geographically categorized into 5 groups—West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, “Israeli” territories, and those in exile, with each group having varying levels of access to human rights.

In the most recent escalation of violence since October 7, 2023, more than 31,000 Palestinians have been killed, and 46,000 have been injured by Israeli forces. There are now more than 6 million Palestinian refugees worldwide, many of whom are not allowed to return to Palestine.  

The military attacks on civilian populations have disproportionately affected women and children who make up 70% of those killed.  Hospitals are being targeted by the Israeli military, where women are undergoing childbirth without access to clean water, Cesarean sections are being performed without anesthesia and neonatal units are without electricity. Reproductive and sexual health services and menstrual products are no longer available in Gaza. 

Equality Bahamas calls its supporters to recognise what is happening now in Gaza and the ongoing colonization in all of Palestine.

We know displacement. We know separation from our people and our land. We know the loss of histories, culture, institutions, and social structures. We know separation from our resources as they are plundered. We know the indifference of people and institutions in positions of power. We, however, know just as well, the power of solidarity that crosses borders and languages. We know the necessity of banding together, recognizing that our struggles are connected, as is our liberation. 

We have seen the denial of healthcare to women. We have seen cruelty against children. We have seen the targeting of activists and journalists. We have seen arbitrary detention and denial of justice. We have seen places of safety, known for medical care, education, and prayer, targeted, targeted and destroyed to communicate to us that we are not protected by any imagined mutual respect for what they symbolize or provide. We have been trapped. We have run with no way out. We have reasoned, cried, and screamed, hid, fought, and dared, protected, mourned, and rallied. We know loss. We know death. We know exhaustion. We, however, know just as well, the power of resistance that rises up from the ground beneath our feet, beats within our hearts, and courses through our veins. We know the necessity of resistance—refusing to back down, disobeying, and claiming our inherent power.

There is no justification for the denial of human rights and systematic killing of Palestinian people. 

We mourn the loss of all Palestinian lives. We call for an immediate ceasefire. We acknowledge the work of the activists and journalists on the ground, sharing information and calling for global action. We recognize the resilience of the Palestinian people over the past decade, and we acknowledge the injustice embedded in the concept of resilience. 

We call for the mobilization of all people who know and share in the struggle against colonialism, racism, capitalism, and the dehumanization of people, and for collective freedom. We call on people with privilege and power to break their silence, inhabit the discomfort of disturbing and opposing their peers, and make financial contributions to sustain life and end the genocide in Palestine. 

Today, we call on the Government of The Bahamas to clearly, unequivocally state its call for a ceasefire. We call on the general public to learn about what is happening in Palestine, sign the call for a ceasefire, participate in the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, and share the posts make by Palestinian people and pro-Palestine organizations on the daily reality of Palestinians and the actions required of others.

This press released was published in The Tribune and Eyewitness News.

Press Release: Anti-rights Religious Groups Incite Hate

Equality Bahamas rebukes anti-rights groups inciting hate and violence against LGBTQI+ people. LGBTQI+ people’s rights are human rights.

Read the full press release from October 5, 2023 below.

Press Release: Gender Based Violence is a Public Health Crisis in The Bahamas

It was reported that a woman accused a Member of Parliament of rape, physical assault, and threats of death against her and her family members. She reported to the police who, and the MP has not be questioned, much less charged. Equality Bahamas released this statement on Monday April 17, 2023.

Gender-based violence against women and girls is a public health crisis in The Bahamas. A Member of Parliament has been accused of physical and sexual violence as well as threats of death, and the reported story from the survivor includes action and inaction by police to impede her access to justice. The survivor shared numerous effects of the violence she experienced on her physical and mental health. 

Survivors must be able to confidently and confidentially report gender-based violence, be assured of access to justice, and receive immediate resources and support services including safe housing and mental healthcare. The Government of The Bahamas must implement the Strategic Plan to Address Gender-Based Violence which has been shelved for several years since being tabled in the House of Assembly in February 2016. 

Equality Bahamas stands in support of the survivor who shared her story, and all survivors who have and have not shared their own. “Ms. Rolle’s is one of many survivor stories that point to corruption, abuse of power, and deliberate protection of violent criminals,” said Director of Equality Bahamas Alicia Wallace. “In addition to demanding legal reform to promote and uphold women’s human rights, we demand access to our inherent right to equal protection of the law. While no one is above the law, we see, every day, that money and titles make it possible for people to circumvent the law when weak people controlling flawed systems approve it.”

The increased frequency of news reports of sexual violence and insufficient responses are indicative of persisting and unchallenged gender ideology that perpetuate violence against women and girls.The Bahamas has an obligation to end gender-based violence against women and girls. In its Concluding Observations in 2018, the CEDAW Committee recommended that the government ensure that the police and courts expeditiously address complaints from women and girls about gender-based violence, and “develop an action plan to eliminate discriminatory gender stereotypes, which incite violence against women and girls, and establish monitoring mechanisms to assess the impact of such measures.” It called for adoption of the gender-based violence bill, criminalization of marital rape, and ensuring cases of gender-based violence are investigated and prosecuted. 

“The Government of The Bahamas voluntarily ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1993. Thirty years later, its failure to come into compliance with the Convention continues. The ratification of CEDAW is a commitment to the people of The Bahamas, to women and girls in particular, made through the United Nations treaty body, and it is accountable to us,” said Ms. Wallace. 

Equality Bahamas calls upon the Prime Minister of The Bahamas to immediately dismiss the accused Member of Parliament, rebuke gender-based violence and its perpetrators, and allocate the necessary resources for the implementation of the Strategic Plan to Address Gender-Based Violence as a measure to prevent and intervene in cases of gender-based violence and support the growing number of survivors.

Press Release: Victim Blaming is Rape Culture

The suggestion that anyone under 16—the age of consent—can consent to sex with an adult is dangerous. Characterizing sexual activity between a child and an adult as consensual is perverted, abusive, and contributes to rape culture. No child can consent to sex with an adult. No adult should be shielded from the consequences of their actions against any child, nor should a child be portrayed as a willing participant in any violation against them.

Read the full press release from April 3, 2022 below.

Press Release: Abortion is Not Killing Babies

On Tuesday, July 21, 2020, a private medical practice equated abortion — a healthcare procedure — to the killing of babies. The Facebook post has since been deleted, but its harm cannot be ignored.

An abortion is a medical or surgical procedure to end a pregnancy. It may be performed to complete a miscarriage or to end an unwanted or life-threatening pregnancy. When abortions are not accessible through medical institutions, they may be performed in unsafe conditions leading to incomplete procedures that can cause excessive bleeding, other damage, or death. Referring to abortion as the killing of babies is not only irresponsible and unethical, but also scientifically incorrect as an embryo is a fetus up to week nine of pregnancy. A doctor asserting their personal opinion about women’s healthcare choices, going as far as to mischaracterize a medical procedure is an example of the stigma and barriers to protecting and expanding women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights.

The stigma attached to abortion denies women self-determination and control of their own bodies and infringes upon their sexual and reproductive health and rights. This stigma also makes it difficult to teach and practice consent, explore pleasure, and address the pervasive issue of sexual violence. Given the private practice’s countless posts about STD testing, it is possible that some of its patients engage in unprotected sex, which could lead to (unwanted) pregnancy. In a sex-positive society and in a sex-positive doctor’s office, there is no judgment or blame, and the emphasis is on education, safety, and access to necessary resources and services.

When people feel judged, they do not present themselves when in need. Women deserve doctors who truly care about them and do not just pander to them with slick comments under the guise of approachability. If women are to lead healthier and safer lives, there must be access to comprehensive healthcare which includes abortion.  

In October 2018 at the 71st CEDAW session, The Bahamas stated that the patients’ bill of rights would address the issue of abortion, suggesting an expansion of women’s rights to make decisions about their own bodies. Attorney General Carl Bethel quickly refuted the claim in the national press. It is still unclear whether the government intentionally misrepresented itself to the CEDAW Committee in an attempt to avoid international embarrassment or decided to backtrack, appealing to people least affected and further curtailing the rights of women. Either way, women in The Bahamas are disadvantaged and their rights are continually and negatively impacted by people who are unaffected by our daily realities.

Access to safe abortion is a right. Barbados, Belize, and St. Vincent allow abortions for socioeconomic reasons and to preserve women’s mental health. In Guyana, abortions are legal without restriction. Women are fully capable of making decisions about their own lives and bodies. Abortion must be destigmatized and decriminalized in The Bahamas, and we must interrupt, name, and correct acts of misogyny. Women’s rights are human rights, regardless of personal opinion.