Bahamas Christian Council
rejects marital rape law

THE Bahamas Christian Council, the largest religious federation in the country, has rejected government's attempt to make it illegal for a husband to force sex on his wife.

The Catholic Archdiocese, the Bahamas Conference of the Methodist Church and the Seventh-Day Adventist Church have already expressed their support for government's proposal, but in a statement issued yesterday, Christian Council president Rev Patrick Paul came out in opposition to the clauses in the Bill relating to marital rape.

If passed, the proposed amendment to the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act would make a man subject to imprisonment anywhere from seven years to life for having sex with his wife without her consent.

However, Rev Paul said the council feels a man should only be prosecuted for having sex with his wife if there is violence involved. He added that even when force is used, a husband should not be incarcerated for the first offence, but rather subjected to "rehabilitative steps."

The council also objects to the words "who is not his spouse" being deleted from the definition of rape, as the government proposes, "thereby leaving it as is and allowing rape to only be possible between two persons who are not married to each other."

Rev Paul suggested that forcing sexual intercourse on "an estranged spouse" should be referred to as "spousal abuse" or "aggravated spousal abuse," rather than rape.

He said council members had raised a number of concerns about the proposed amendment, including whether it will be used as "a means of spite" by wives, and whether proper checks and balances be created "to ensure that unfounded claims are not made."

The statement also said pastors are concerned about the extent to which the government should impinge upon "things that are sacred and intimate."

* Rev Paul's full statement is printed on page 6 of today's Tribune.

Published On:Friday, September 04, 2009