Women & LGBTQI+ Recommendations – Feminist Standards for Governance

Our recommendations for Women & LGBTQI+ are:

Allocate resources to develop a knowledge base to support national manufacturing of sustainable menstrual products to be tax-free and stocked by all grocery stores and pharmacies, and present the model to CARICOM states to replicate, scale, and/or adapt. 

Respond to the disproportionate experiences of violence through legislative reform (including laws on non-discrimination, hate crimes, and gender-based violence)

Update the national curriculum to include comprehensive sexuality education

Expand the concept of Bahamian identity, embracing diversity and promoting fundamental freedoms

Criminalize marital rape as a means of affirming the full humanity of women regardless of marital status

Amend the Bahamas Nationality Act to ensure equal nationality rights to strengthen Bahamian identity

​​Implement mandatory rigorous, ongoing training on gender and diversity, equity, and inclusion to all law enforcement officers

Implement a national gender policy and action plan, set goals, objectives and activities for the Department of Gender and Family affairs, allocated an adequate budget, and support gender experts 

 

Feminist Standards for Governance: A People’s Agenda for 2026-2031 is a set of demands for the Government of The Bahamas to serve the people. In a series of workshops from 2021 to 2026, members of the public identified issues of national concern, connected them with systems, named responsible parties, and developed recommendations that address the issues along with their systemic roots. This people’s agenda is evidence of our collective interest in co-creating the future through active participation in governance.