PM’s comments on marital rape unacceptable, activist says (The Nassau Guardian)

April 24, 2024 – The Nassau Guardian

Equality Bahamas founder and co-director Alicia Wallace featured in The Nassau Guardian on April 24, 2024.

From The Nassau Guardian:

Davis also suggested that divorce is a solution for women who are raped by their husbands.

“My thing is that any time a couple … in blissful marriage reaches a stage where they are going to report their husband for rape, it seems to me that that marriage is irretrievably broken, meaning they are no longer married even though it may not have been so pronounced by a court,” he said.

PM’s comments on marital rape unacceptable, activist says. The Nassau Guardian

Wallace said that suggestion was unacceptable.

“Divorce is absolutely not a solution for marital rape,” she said.

“Divorce is a way to legally end a marriage. We are calling for the criminalization of marital rape to address a violent act. These are two different kinds of laws that serve different purposes.

“It is unacceptable for anyone, especially the prime minister, to suggest that a woman who is raped by her husband should get a divorce and that should be enough when the same violent act, perpetrated by anyone else, could be reported to police and lead to justice.

“What he is missing is that married women are people, have human rights, and should not lose the right to give or withhold consent or to access justice when their rights are violated.”