Bahamas News
Bahamas Crisis Centre Continues Call for Action to End Gender-Based Violence
#TheBahamas, April 23, 2023 – The reports of incidents of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in The Bahamas in the media over these recent weeks must be the ultimate wake-up call for us as a nation.
This week the news report was “MP choked and abused his fiancé”, and last week, the report was that of a mother and daughter being found dead and having suffered brutal attacks by a male known to them.
The week before, a repeat offender sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl, while at the park.
Let us all pause to reflect on the terror that has been present in those scenarios, and remember the trauma and horror faced by other victims who endured such attacks from others.
Gender-Based Violence can occur in any socioeconomic bracket, as was clear in the incidents mentioned above. It is not something that only occurs in gangs or circumstances that we can often say: ‘Oh it does not affect us all directly’.
Gender-Based Violence can occur under the cloak of any household; it is a broad-based social health issue that cannot be pushed aside.
Bahamas statistics reveal a 50% increase in reports of child abuse in addition to the police reports of an increase of
34% in reported sexual offenses in 2022 over 2021.
How many more wake-up calls do we need as a nation?
Swift action to address these types of assaults, particularly against the vulnerable in society, needs to be taken.
We congratulate the Minister of National Security and the Commissioner of Police for implementing a Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Unit and look forward to working with the ministry in this initiative.
Kudos to The Ministry of Social Services & Urban Development for the recent launch. We cannot forget about The Department of Social Services with the recent launch of the Family Island Gender-Based Violence Coordination Council in Abaco, which is a promising beginning.
We must however recognize the delay of successive governments in implementing the Task Force recommendations put forward in the completed Strategic Plan in 2016.
We call on the government to pass the Gender-Based Violence Legislation and the implementation of the Gender-Based Violence Authority that will bring together the key ministries and services to interrupt this cycle of violence that threatens the stability of our nation.
We have learned a great deal about Gender-Based Violence over the last decades. It is clear that a need exists to move away from the silos approach model, and instead, bring together all the partners involved in the work of addressing Gender-Based Violence in The Bahamas.
We need to establish a properly resourced Sexual Offences Court; we need to expand the capacity of the Police Forensics Unit to respond to the large numbers of reported sexual offences.
Sexual Offenders will continue to rape with impunity and without consequences, until we become serious in our response to this global and national shame.
The Bahamas Crisis Centre stands ready to continue to raise awareness on these issues and provide services for survivors, but we need more than platitudes and promises, we need ACTION!
Rashaed Esson
Staff Writer
#TheBahamas, August 5, 2023 – An American woman has been arrested in The Bahamas, accused of conspiring with two men, one of them alleged to be her lover, to murder her estranged husband.
The woman, 36 year old Lindsay Shiver and the two men, 28-year-old Terrance Bethel, the alleged lover and 29 year old Faron Newbold, were taken into custody last week following police investigation of a reported burglary at
Grabbers Bar and Grill restaurant on Great Guana Cay.
The police looked into their cell phones and found WhatsApp messages detailing the assassination plot to kill her husband.
The couple, who built a life in South Georgia have three children and are home owners on the island in the Abacos.
News outlets throughout the US have reported on the scandalous story, including that a nasty court battle over the couple’s reported, $5 Million dollar fortune and three children was underway. Shiver, an entrepreneur is a former beauty Alabama queen, her husband a former football player was an insurance executive.
According to US media, the husband, Robert, recently filed for divorce from Shivers after a decade of marriage upon discovering she had an alleged extra-martial affair with Bethel whom she met in The Bahamas.
While the husband claims infidelity on the part of his wife, the wife claims he was abusive.
The suspects Shiver, Bethel and Newbold appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Roberto Reckley on Friday July 28th. Their next court date is set for October 5th.
Rashaed Esson
Staff Writer
#TheBahamas, August 5, 2023 – The Bahamas is now facing an unfortunate reality as sexual assault has become and is a growing issue since 2023. Women and girls are said to be living in fear for their safety from these perpetrators.
The Royal Bahamas Police force has reported on instances of assault in press releases found on their Facebook page.
One report spoke of a 50 year old they were searching for after he burglarized a home and sexually assaulted an elderly woman, 82 years old. She was reported to be asleep when he woke and assaulted her.
This took place on Tuesday July 11th, 2023 at the home in the Centreville area of Nassau.
There is another incident that took place on July 17th, 2023 which the police are seeking in catching the suspect as they investigate. It involves a man believed to the perpetrator in for an armed robbery and sexual assault.
According to preliminary data, he approached the victim, a female, with a firearm, robbed her and sexually assaulted
her. He proceeded to enter the house and robbed a male and escaped. This happened in the Cowpen Road area; also in Nassau.
The assaults continue to grow in number as the police reported that they were investigating two other incidents that took place on July 24th.
The first had to do with a female, 30 years old who reported she was driving on West on Marshall Road when two men approached her after she slowed down near Faith Avenue. One of the males with a firearm, forced her from her vehicle and took her to nearby bushes where they sexually assaulted her after which they escaped.
The second incident involved à 32 year old woman who was sexually assaulted by a male known to her. It is reported that she was walking in the Fleming Street area when she accepted transportation from the suspect, who drove her to a dirt road off Gladstone Road where he presented a firearm and proceeded to rape her.
Furthermore, another assault, this time involving a 9 year old girl, was reported. As revealed by preliminary information, the victim was playing with friends outside where she lives on Saturday July 29th, 2023 when the suspect, a 42 year old male of Summerset Estate, driving a white Nissan Skyline, arrived and gestured to her to enter the car.
She entered the car after which he took her to an unknown location, threatened her and sexually assaulted her. She was later found somewhere in Spikenard Road; this also happened in Nassau.
Fortunately, he was caught and arrested for abduction and sexual assault on Sunday July 30th by officers affiliated with the Drug Enforcement Unit.
There are other reports of sexual assault throughout The Bahamas as well as rape and attempted rape during the earlier parts of the year, dating back to as early as February.
CAPTION: Women Leaders, including Ann Marie Davis, wife of the Prime Minister filled the gallery of The Bahamas Senate this week as members of the upper chamber debated the Protection Against Violence Bill 2023. The debate came just as the country experiences a spike in sexual assaults against women and girls. Photo by Patrick Hanna, BIS.
#TurksandCaicos, August 5, 2023 – On August 3rd, 2023, Premier Misick met with the Leader of the
Opposition of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, the Honorable Michael Pintard. The discussion was highly productive, and they delved into matters of mutual concern between their neighboring nations. Hon. Pintard was accompanied by other opposition members, including Senator the Honorable Darren Handfield and Mr. Joshua Sears.
Group photo caption:
From Left to Right: Mr. Joshua Sears, Senator Hon. Darren Hendfield, Premier Hon. Charles Washington Misick, Bahamas Leader of the Bahamas Hon. Michael Pintard and Deputy Premier Hon. Erwin J. Saunders.
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