分类： society

Bahamian gender equality advocacy group Equality Bahamas has issued sharp criticism of the current Davis administration, accusing leaders of sidelining gender-based violence (GBV) as a policy priority during their term, pointing to chronically underfunded support systems for survivors and the government’s ongoing refusal to outlaw marital rape.

In an interview outlining the group’s concerns, Equality Bahamas Director Alicia Wallace charged that the administration has rejected even the most straightforward, low-barrier actions to address widespread GBV, despite consistent calls for reform from both local advocacy organizations and international human rights bodies. Unlike the government’s claim that entirely new policy frameworks are needed to tackle the crisis, Wallace noted that actionable, vetted recommendations have existed for years from global groups including the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the UN Human Rights Council. Existing draft legislation only requires minor updates and final approval to move into law, she added.

A core point of contention is the long-running push to criminalize marital rape, a reform that CEDAW has recommended since 2018. Even after a new draft bill was introduced to amend the country’s Sexual Offences Act, Wallace said the current administration deliberately excluded this critical provision. In public comments made in February 2025, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis argued that broad “consensus” from across Bahamian society was required to move forward with the change, saying the government must reflect the will of all groups, not just gender equality advocates. That same month, Attorney General Ryan Pinder confirmed that the administration does not plan to introduce the legislation before the end of its current term, citing the issue’s political sensitivity.

Notably, the prime minister’s own spouse, Ann Marie Davis, has publicly broken with the administration’s position, voicing full support for criminalizing marital rape and calling for policymakers to act immediately. Back in 2022, Davis made an unusually public rebuke of the status quo, saying: “We must agitate and hold our policy makers accountable. We want them to upgrade our laws and we really need that. Imagine, we are still living in a society where no does not mean no. How could that be? I tell you no and you think I mean yes. No, sir. Of course I’m talking about marital rape right. No means no.”

Critics of the administration’s delay point to past examples where Bahamian governments have moved forward on politically divisive policies without full national consensus. For instance, the former Christie administration moved to regularize the gaming industry after a referendum on the issue failed, and the current Davis administration implemented cannabis reforms despite widespread opposition from religious groups.

Wallace explained that the legal exception for marital rape is not just a technical oversight, but a reflection of deep systemic gender inequality. “It suggests that women’s identities and autonomy cease to exist in the context of marriage, and dangerously, that we become the property of men. This is at the root of all other issues of gender inequality and gender-based violence,” she said.

Beyond criticizing the ruling party, Wallace also called out the Bahamian opposition for failing to uphold its oversight role, noting that the opposition has not used its legislative leverage to push for reform or back advocates’ demands as high-profile domestic and sexual violence cases continue to make headlines. “As story after story of domestic violence and sexual violence reach headlines, they have not reiterated recommendations, support our demands, or made their own interventions, completely wasting the leverage they had as an opposition,” she said.

Other youth and community leaders echoed these concerns. Prodesta Moore, from the Bahamas Urban Youth Development Centre, emphasized that GBV and the lack of legal protections do not only affect adult women, but shape the lives of young people across every community. “Domestic violence and sexual assault continue to affect families across communities, with young people often directly or indirectly impacted. These are not just adult issues, they are youth issues,” Moore said. “They shape the environments our young people grow up in, the trauma they carry, and the futures they are trying to build.” Moore called for expanded protections for women and girls, broader public education and prevention programming, and more accessible support services for survivors.

Khandi Gibson, a representative of local group FOAM, acknowledged that many women face unique barriers to leaving abusive relationships that extend beyond government policy, but confirmed that limited resources remain a crippling barrier to support, particularly for temporary housing and mental health counselling.

The Bahamian Tribune reached out to four senior female government ministers — Labour and Public Service Minister Pia Glover-Rolle, Energy and Transport Minister Jobeth Coleby-Davis, Education Minister Glenys Hanna-Martin, and Housing and Urban Renewal State Minister Lisa Rahming — for comment on the administration’s unaddressed gender equity commitments. None responded to requests for comment before the publication deadline.

It has been 365 days since 32-year-old Emmanuel Bain, a father of two young boys, vanished off the waters of the Bahamas, and his loved ones have refused to let go of the belief that he will come home alive.

Bain, who owned a local car wash and was an experienced jet ski enthusiast with a lifelong passion for the ocean, was last spotted on April 6, 2025, near Coral Cay. According to family accounts, he went missing while attempting to recover his drifting jet ski. In the 12 months that have followed, his relatives have been trapped in agonizing uncertainty, with no clear answers about the circumstances that led to his disappearance.

A core point of conflict has emerged between the family and law enforcement: a senior family member, who requested anonymity to speak freely about the sensitive case, claims that Bahamian police never launched an official search operation for Bain. The relative explained that Bain’s mother filed a missing person report with the Central Detective Unit just 24 hours after he was last seen, but the family has yet to receive any formal updates on the case’s progress from authorities. Even basic missing person outreach steps were never taken, the family alleges: “They never even posted a picture of him,” the relative said, referencing Royal Bahamas Police Force’s standard missing person public notices.

Frustrated by the lack of official action, Bain’s relatives took matters into their own hands, organizing multiple independent search missions across coastal areas near Saunders Beach and the surrounding waters. Despite weeks of combing the shoreline and ocean, these private efforts turned up no clues that could help locate Bain or shed light on what happened to him the day he went missing.

Before his disappearance, Bain led a quiet, rooted life in the community: he leaves behind a fiancé and two sons, aged five and seven. The endless uncertainty of his case has inflicted a devastating emotional toll on the entire family, a weight that has only grown heavier as the one-year anniversary passed without answers.

Even after a full year without any sign of Bain, his family’s hope remains unshaken. They continue to gather daily to pray for his safe return, holding onto the dream that he will walk back into their lives. “Every day we sit down through here we pray he come walking through,” the relative shared. “We always say we pray he come walking through Nassau Street. That’s the things we asked for, we just want to see him.”

When asked if the family has accepted the possibility that Bain may not have survived, the relative rejected that idea outright. “I don’t even want to believe that even though it’s been a year,” she said, emphasizing that the family will hold out hope until they have definitive answers.

In response to the family’s allegations, The Bahamas Tribune reached out to Royal Bahamas Police Force press liaison Chief Superintendent Sheria King for comment. King stated that she had been advised the missing person case was never formally reported to police, a claim that Bain’s family continues to firmly dispute.

For children navigating the devastating grief of losing a father to homicide, the Easter holiday can feel like an empty, painful reminder of what they have lost. This year, however, a community-driven collaboration between a local entrepreneur and a support organization turned that emptiness into a tangible expression of care, delivering hand-prepared Easter baskets to 30 grieving families to lift their spirits.

The project grew from personal heartache turned purpose. Back in September 2023, Shantavia Cooper-Rolle’s twin daughters faced an unimaginable upheaval as they prepared to start their final year of high school: their father was killed in a murder. The tragedy plunged the teenagers into a dark period of grief, but with consistent support from their family, they slowly found a way to move forward. Today, both young women attend college on multiple academic scholarships, a testament to their resilience.

Drawing from her own family’s experience, Cooper-Rolle, who owns the small gift and snack business 2S Snacks & More, felt called to give back to other families walking this same path this Easter. She partnered with Families of All Murder Victims (FOAM), a grassroots organization led by president Khandi Gibson that supports people impacted by homicide, to curate and distribute 30 special Easter baskets for children who lost their fathers to murder.

As Cooper-Rolle delivered the baskets to homes across the community, she was met with tears of gratitude and shared vulnerability. Many of the single mothers receiving the gifts asked her how she had managed to cope after her own daughters’ loss. In response, Cooper-Rolle offered gentle, honest perspective that rejected the idea that grief can be fully “overcome.” She encouraged the mothers to take advantage of school counseling services for their children, and to extend grace to themselves as they navigate each day. “It’s nothing to be overcome. You learn every day. It’s something you take with you. It’s not something that’s going to go away,” she explained. “We just have to learn how to deal with this, hopefully, try to remember the memories.”

One moment in particular stuck with Cooper-Rolle: when a young child was brought outside to receive her basket, her face lit up with unfiltered excitement. “That filled my heart,” Cooper-Rolle said of the interaction.

For Gibson and the FOAM organization, moments like that highlight why small, intentional gestures of care matter so much, especially during holidays when families traditionally gather. Gibson noted that childhood is shaped by small, joyful holiday traditions, and no child should be left out of that joy because of tragedy. “I thought it was very important because, you know, children look up to their fathers and their mothers. Everybody expect Christmas baskets, especially if you’re a child, that’s what we grew up on,” Gibson said. Through initiatives like this Easter basket drive, FOAM aims to remind every grieving child that they are seen, loved, and appreciated, even in the middle of overwhelming pain.