Criminalization of Marital Rape
It is currently legal for a man to rape his wife. Section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act defines rape as “the act of any person not under fourteen years of age having sexual intercourse with another person who is not his spouse[…]”
“Who is not his spouse” provides an exemption for perpetrators who are married to the victims of rape.
In 2018, Equality Bahamas launched the #Strike5ive campaign for the criminalization of marital rape. We continue to advocate for the criminalization of marital rape with amendments to the Sexual Offences Act including:
- Removing “who is not his spouse” from Section 3
- Repealing Section 15
- Adding a statutory definition of consent
- Adding a clause of non-immunity on the basis of marriage
Click for Further Reading.
On her 2017 visit to The Bahamas, then Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women Dubravka Šimonović identified marital rape as the “most pressing gender-based issue in The Bahamas,” referring to it as a “sign that something is deeply wrong.”