“Activists call for Rolle to step down” – The Tribune

Excerpt from this article; “RIGHTS Bahamas (RB) has condemned the ‘shockingly insensitive comments’ of Minister of Social Services Lanisha Rolle on marital rape and called for her immediate resignation.

RB said as the only woman in Cabinet and particularly in light of her official role in providing for the welfare of the vulnerable, Mrs. Rolle ‘should be ashamed of promoting a perspective that encourages assault against women.”

First question who is “Rights Bahamas”? And secondly, how is Minister Rolle “promoting a perspective that encourages assault against women”?

It seems painfully obvious that Rights Bahamas’s perspective is much different from that which many of us share and is not based in reality.  It is my opinion  that the activist group is either confused in its message or attempting to confuse the public; and most defiantly confused in its interpretation of the minister’s comment as it draws this erroneous conclusion.

The group says that “all forms of non-consensual sexual activity should be outlawed in any society that seeks to call itself a democracy” but the last time I checked these acts were, at no time have I seen marriage being successfully used as a justification for the rape of a spouse; I could be wrong and I always stand to be corrected.

The group continues on to build its case to have the Minister of Social Services and Urban Renewal fired on, what I see, as the misinterpretation of her statement on marital rape being a private matter; how they have reached the conclusion which they have reached is amazing for a group of “intelligent” persons; making an assumption.   Nevertheless, it would seem that they have reached the conclusion that the minister is advocating that a married woman that has experienced the trauma of marital rape not report it and not speak about it, all this from the statement “Marital rape is a private issue””.  This conclusion is not only erroneous; as it is a lie within itself, but is also an asinine intimation.

What I am finding truly amazing is that this “intelligent” group (still working on assumption here), would/could come together over this issue, misconstrue the comments of the minister to fit their agenda; whatever that may be, while claiming to seek to protect one segment of society while putting another segment of the very society at risk; disenfranchising them and further minimalizing their rights; this makes no sense and is plain stupid, there is no other word to describe this reckless and irresponsible action, and does not move the issue which they seek to address forward at all .

The definition of rape in The Bahamas now is; Rape is the act of nay person under fourteen years of age having sexual intercourse with another person who is not his spouse;

1. Without the consent of that person
2. Without consent which has been extorted by threats or fear of bodily harm;
3. With consent obtained by personating the spouse of that other person.

My first suggestion would be to remove the words “…who is not his spouse” from the definition and work from there, because then it should then automatically makes the act of rape a crime.

Finally Rights Bahamas, no one is going to fire anyone under the direction of a face-less, fringe group; which seemed to have formed over night, in a social vacuum, which seem to have no solutions to the serious issue to which they wish to address.

END