The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Hearing the pronouncements of Mr Williams, Acting Director of Public Prosecutions, and the subsequent media statements from Minister Wayne Munroe, QC, and Attorney Christina Galanos in reference to the plea-bargained sentence handed to the 40-year-old gentleman who admitted to having sexual intercourses with a then 14-year-old girl, I remain mystified by their logic.

I don’t think this is due to me being “ignorant” or “stupid”, but to looking at this issue from an entirely different premise. I was shaken out of post retirement professional lassitude by the coverage and am now back in full survivor advocacy/psychiatric mode and would like, from this standpoint to question their opinions.

What has been sadly lacking in this country has been significant, reproducible research into the impact of family structure and socialisation on child development and behaviour. What we have in abundance is a folk lore of blame, be it absent fathers, teenage mothers, the breakdown of the “village”, materialism, wealth inequality, community violence, politics.

To these I would add Mr Williams’ “generation of sexualised children” and by his account largely indifferent parenting. Are these descriptions applicable to this specific case or those other victims in The Bahamas, similarly sexually exploited who never report, to those whose assailants remain at large, whose cases never get investigated or through the court system?

Finally, the apparent paradox of “consent to” and “agreement with” sexual activity. The Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act quite clearly states that this young lady was not of legal age to give consent to sexual activity, yet seemingly this was not against her will so legally it was interpreted as not as damaging, as was stated succinctly by the legal teams “It wasn’t rape, it was sexual assault”.

The law seemingly views “agreement” to sexual activity in a much more concrete fashion than does behavioral science. Consent from the latter viewpoint is not merely saying yes, or appearing to agree, but giving that permission freely without coercion, with the full knowledge of what they are entering into and the option to call a halt at any time. In this case where there is such an imbalance not just in age but in status and life experience it is hard to believe that this youngster was “agreeing” in the full spirit of partnership. Sadly, I am sure that neither party was expecting the subsequent pregnancy.

DR SUE FAIRCLOUGH

Nassau,

April 5, 2022.