Aug. 17, 2022 – Guardian Radio 96.9FM
Equality Bahamas founder and co-director Alicia Wallace featured in Guardian Radio’s On the Clock with Erin Greene on August 17, 2022.
Tune in from 5:40 to hear about gender equality and the Nationality Act, our thoughts on the right to free sanitary products established in Scotland, marital rape, as well as gender and climate change,
Listen back to the replay below.
July 14, 2022 – Guardian Radio 96.9FM
Equality Bahamas founder and co-director Alicia Wallace featured in Guardian Radio’s On the Clock with Erin Greene on July 14, 2022.
We were On the Clock with Erin Greene on Guardian Radio 96.9FM from about 10:20am to 11am on July 14, 2022. Tune in from 29:56 to hear about our #Strike5ive campaign to criminalize #MaritalRape.
Listen back to the replay below.
July 14, 2022 – The Tribune
Equality Bahamas founder and co-director, Alicia Wallace featured in The Tribune on July 14, 2022.
For its part, Equality Bahamas said in a statement yesterday there are no one-size-fits-all solutions, and the general approach is “lazy, ineffective, and results in inequity”.
“Equality Bahamas has consistently called for feminist policymaking, centering people in situations of vulnerability,” the statement said. “The prime minister said the focus is on ‘all Bahamians’, but it is not possible to meet all needs without recognising different identities and different circumstances, which directly impact needs and ability to access (and) to use available resources and services.
“There must be specific consideration of women and girls, LGBTQI+ people, people with disabilities, people experiencing poverty, elderly people, and other marginalised groups. There are no one-size-fits-all solutions, and the general approach is lazy, ineffective, and results in inequity.”
July 6, 2022 – The Tribune
Equality Bahamas featured in The Tribune on July 6, 2022.
From The Tribune:
This group’s GBV programme provided a platform for participants to speak with experts that are a part of NGOs Equality Bahamas and The Bahamas Crisis Centre to get a better understanding of the issue.
ORG’s Executive Director, Matt Aubrey noted: “Unsurprisingly, one of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) is to eliminate GBV within the next nine years. We are proud of the 23 youth activists who have shown such great interest and commitment to raising awareness and adding to the momentum toward ending violence against women and girls.”
June 27, 2022 – The Tribune
Equality Bahamas featured in The Tribune on June 27, 2022.
From The Tribune:
Advocacy group Equality Bahamas told The Tribune yesterday that there needed to be a full investigation into the incident.
“There needs to be a full investigation into the incident to determine not only what happened, but how because the institution has failed to maintain a safe environment and protect a patient who is a minor,” the organisation told The Tribune yesterday.
“In addition to identifying and prosecuting the perpetrator, the minor needs to be properly treated and provided with psychosocial support. The general public must be reminded, in the midst of outrage, that a minor is being discussed and that person and their loved ones have access to this discourse, likely to include misinformation, which can be harmful and disruptive to access to justice and healing.
“Further, it is critical that we hold institutions accountable for what occurs on their premises and see to it that safeguards are implemented. There should be no opportunity to violate a child anywhere.”
Mar. 31, 2022 – The Tribune
Equality Bahamas co-director Lauren Glinton featured in The Tribune on March 31, 2022.
From The Tribune:
EQUALITY Bahamas has announced the launch of its Strike5ive campaign to criminalise marital rape in the strongest, most explicit way.According to a press release from the group, it calls on the government to criminalise marital rape by removing “who is not his spouse” from the definition of rape in Section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act, repealing Section 15 on sexual assault by a spouse, adding a statutory definition of consent to the Act, and including of a clause on non-immunity on the basis of a marital relationship.
There must be no temporal limitation and no requirement of the attorney general’s consent or any other barriers to reporting, the group said.
“Rape remains one of the most under reported crimes around the world. Criminalisation of marital rape and an improved reporting process will ensure that all women, regardless of their marital status, are protected by the law, able to report, and have access to justice,” said Lauren Glinton, Global 16 Days campaign coordinator at Equality Bahamas.
Equality Bahamas continues to call on the government to take action to come into compliance with international mechanisms — including Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and Belém do Pará which states that violence against women includes violence “that occurs within the family or domestic unit or within any other interpersonal relationship[…] including, among others, rape, battery and sexual abuse.”
March 30, 2022 – Guardian Radio 96.9FM
Equality Bahamas founder and co-director Alicia Wallace featured in Guardian Radio’s On the Clock with Erin Greene on March 30, 2022.
We were On the Clock with Erin Greene on Guardian Radio 96.9FM from about 10:20am to 11am on March 30, 2022. Tune in from 24:08 to hear about CEDAW, our #Strike5ive campaign to criminalize #MaritalRape, and citizenship rights.
Listen back to the replay below.
Mar. 21, 2022 – The Nassau Guardian
Equality Bahamas founder and co-director Alicia Wallace featured in The Nassau Guardian on March 21, 2022.
From The Nassau Guardian:
Equality Bahamas Director Alicia Wallace said she supports Bethel’s view because “rape is rape”.
“It’s something that we continue to repeat,” Wallace said.
“It doesn’t matter what you put in front of rape. You can call it marital rape or whatever, but it’s still rape. Like you said, it’s a compromise and an unacceptable one. We also understand that laws help to create/maintain/shift culture and the way that people think about things.
“If we refuse to acknowledge that rape is rape and we leave section three as it is with that exception ‘whose not his spouse’ and create this new category, it’s like we’re validating these people.”
Wallace said there would be “serious fundamental issues” with changing the term.
March 9, 2022 – Guardian Radio 96.9FM
Equality Bahamas founder and co-director Alicia Wallace featured in Guardian Radio’s On the Clock with Erin Greene on March 9, 2022.
Tune in from 20:06 to hear about our Building the Gender Machinery event series and gender-based violence.
Listen back to the replay below.
Mar. 8, 2022 – Eyewitness News
Equality Bahamas authored an Op-ed for Eyewitness News on March 8, 2022.
From Eyewitness News:
Equality Bahamas is hosting a series of events as it observes International Women’s Day and facilitates civic participation in the building of the national gender machinery. Since the World Conference of the International Women’s Year in 1975, there has been increased focus on the gender machinery, described in the Beijing Platform for Action as “central policy coordinating unit inside government […] to support government-wide mainstreaming of a gender-equality perspective in all policy areas”. The Beijing Platform for Action also clearly stated that the national gender machinery must be at the highest level in government, have processes to facilitate participation of non-governmental organizations, have sufficient resources to properly function and the ability to influence all government policies. As The Bahamas has yet to properly structure and resource the national gender machinery, Equality Bahamas is identifying and compiling existing tools to move The Bahamas toward gender equality.
“This month, we are building on our activities during the Global 16 Days Campaign, familiarizing community members with the tools and practices that are critical to — and should be developed and promoted by — the national gender machinery, which is the Department of Gender and Family Affairs,” said Alicia Wallace, director of Equality Bahamas.
“We raised awareness of international mechanisms and critical documents that remain in draft form or have been shelved for years. People are talking about proposals and calling for immediate implementation, but we need to increase understanding of their contents, recognition of their gaps and participation in consultations to improve them.”
Equality Bahamas issued six demands during the Global 16 Days Campaign. They included the update and implementation of the National Strategic Plan to End Gender-based Violence, full compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), full compliance with Belém do Pará and criminalization of marital rape. The events in March 2022 will familiarize participants with the named international mechanisms and documents and create opportunities for members of the public to engage experts and practitioners, ask questions and make recommendations to improve draft documents and accelerate progress toward gender equality and a world free of violence.
“We reiterate our demand that the government meet its obligations to the people of The Bahamas. It needs to accelerate legislative reform, including the immediate criminalization of marital rape, calling it rape. Prioritize the protection and expansion of women’s human rights and address the specific needs of women, girls and people in situations of vulnerability,” said Wallace.
Upcoming Equality Bahamas events include an interactive workshop on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 with Aneesah Abdullah, Office of the United Nations resident coordinator, and Allicia Rolle, SDG Unit, on March 9 at 6pm; a discussion on the Sexual Offenses Act and proposed amendments to criminalize marital rape with Marion Bethel, CEDAW committee member, on March 15 at 6pm; and a review of the draft gender policy with Gaynel Curry, human rights expert, on March 19 at 10am. All registration links can be found at facebook.com/equality242.
“It doesn’t matter what you put in front of rape. You can call it marital rape or whatever, but it’s still rape. Like you said, it’s a compromise and an unacceptable one. We also understand that laws help to create/maintain/shift culture and the way that people think about things.