The Tribune

THE Prime Minister and Governor General have recognised Marion Bethel for being the 11th recipient of the prestigious CARICOM award for women.

Mrs Bethel, an attorney, human and gender rights activist, filmmaker and acclaimed writer/poet, is the first Bahamian to receive the award, which was presented to her earlier this month in Antigua and Barbuda.

The award, introduced in 1983, is issued every three years to honour a Caribbean woman whose work has made a significant contribution in the arena of women’s development and the socio-economic development of the Caribbean.

The Minister of Social Services and Community Development, Melanie Griffin, said Mrs Bethel’s efforts as a strong advocate for gender equality and human rights, was “without a doubt” a significant contributing factor to her selection as was her production of the documentary: “Womanish Ways: Freedom, Human Rights and Democracy – the Women’s Suffrage Movement in The Bahamas, 1948-1962.”

Mrs Bethel, her husband Alfred Sears and daughter Nia Bethel-Sears, were joined at Government House on Friday by the Prime Minister and his wife, Bernadette Christie, Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling and Mrs Griffin.