The official report on crime in The Bahamas ...prepared by noted Bahamian psychiatrist Dr David Allen - M.D., M.P.H.

By Paul Turnquest
Tribune242

Nassau, The Bahamas

IN today's Insight, we present the official report on crime prepared by noted psychiatrist Dr David Allen.

Some findings from this report were first published in The Tribune on March 30, 2012.

Dr DAVID F ALLEN

M.D., M.P.H.

USING a clinical epidemiological approach, the root causes of crime were examined over a five year period (2007-2012) by analyzing data from diverse focus groups in the Bahamian community. This was the same approach used to report on the cocaine epidemic in the Bahamas published in The Lancet in 1986. For this study on crime, the focus groups included:

• Families of murder victims;
• Transitional adolescent programme for students involved in violent and disorderly behaviour;
• Chronic drug addicts--sample;
• Troubled teenagers and parents group;
• Public and private psychotherapy groups;
• Church focus groups;
• Visitation to neighbourhoods of violent crimes and murder;
• Confidential interviews;

The results indicate an ominous and pervasive culture of violence and destruction. This culture of violence and destruction is primarily caused by:

• The Chronic Violent Drug Syndrome.

The Bahamas was the first country outside South America to experience a national crack cocaine epidemic. The chronic violent drug syndrome is the continuing devastating blow delivered to our country by the 1980's cocaine epidemic. Similar syndromes exist in Mexico, Colombia, Jamaica, and U.S. cities such as Miami, Washington, D.C., New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. The syndrome consists of six major components:

• Drug Trafficking with its evil empire of drug executions, creating fear and panic among the public and empowering the drug barons in turf wars.
• Increasing numbers of chronic addicts (a person using three times or more per week for a period of three or more years). Chronic addicts make up 1/3 of the addicts and use 2/3 of the drugs. Of chronic addicts, 2/3 are involved in multiple crimes. In and out of prison, these persons are cognitively impaired and find it hard to hold down a job. Although the number of new crack addicts does not seem to be increasing, there is a growing chronic marijuana epidemic among children age 10 years through adolescence. This destroys educational potential since the brain is not fully developed until the mid-twenties.
• Guns, guns and more guns. Guns and drugs go together. Young men tell me that guns are still easily obtained.
• Fragmentation of the socio-cultural ethic.

Disocialization

• Life is cheap. Murder is common. Young men who murder obtain stripes in the Hood (inner city), giving them the reputation of being "bad boys" who are to be feared.
• People in the community live in fear and feel unsafe. More people are talking more about self protection and revenge.
• Property is not respected. "With a gun what is yours is mine." As one young man said, "Even if you lose the dice game, if you have a gun, you still win!"
• Diminished or poor work ethic. It appears that some young men in particular have lost the mind to work.
• Community fragmentation. Crack cocaine feminized drug addiction, knocking the mother out of the home. Left to fend for themselves, children are unbonded and lack habilitation and social skills. There is little motivation for education in the home.
• Gang formation. Young men and women join gangs for affirmation, safety, protection, connection and empowerment. This is a growing phenomena which has serious consequences for the country because the herd instinct is the most violent aspect of human nature.
• Sprees of violent crimes. The gun is the law in the drug world.

ANGER

• Throughout the study, when people are angry they talked about outing (killing), poisoning and suicide. For example in some focus groups, one third of persons in the groups talked about killing or hurting someone. Some of these persons come from respectable families. We have an anger problem in our midst. All feelings can be reduced to fear, anger (hurt love) and shame (self hatred aimed at me) or love and compassion.

Life is wounded. Instead of doing our grief work, we give over to destructive anger and shame, leading to resentment, bitterness, hardness of heart, and finally rage. At the rage point we enter the "Blind Spot." My work shows we become possessed by evil or negative energy. Young men and women who have committed murder or extreme violence describe being taken over by a negative force. "Do not let the sun set on your anger, in order not to give the devil a foot hold" - Eph. 4:26.

As one man told me, "All of a sudden I could not stop stabbing him, looking back I felt something was controlling me."

• Anger causes diffuse physiological arousal (DPA), the heart rate increases, blood pressure rises and pulse increases. Because of the intimate connection of the heart to the brain, when the pulse rises 10 per cent above normal, the IQ drops 20 to 30 points. If men self-soothe by drinking alcohol or smoking marijuana, their inhibitions are decreased, and violence and even murder may result. Sadly the person we love the most makes us most angry! Hence Domestic Violence is a serious problem. If a woman cancels the charges more than three times she is in danger of being killed.
• Alexithymia (lack of words for hot feelings or strong emotion).

If a person cannot express, "I am angry"; "I am hurt", they will act it out. For example a young man who beat a woman said he wanted her to feel what he was feeling. When asked what he was feeling, he said, "I don't know."

Economic Downturn

Men get self-esteem from their employment. Men without work become angry at their wife or girl friend and the children suffer. Some persons respond by a wish to die (suicide). Although there is no direct causal connection between poverty and crime, there is a clear connection between the loss of money or status and increased rage or suicidal ideation, e.g. a girl friend said that after losing his job, her boy friend kept a hang-man's noose in the bedroom. And told her he could no longer afford to give her what she wanted. So when the time is right he would hang himself.

Young girls make themselves available to older men in a form of prostitution which is becoming increasingly common. This is seen as an acceptable way to pay for education or family bills, e.g. cable, electricity and water.

Affects of Child Abuse

Nearly all troubled children seen had some type of abuse, especially physical and sexual abuse. Dorothy Lewis at Yale studying 14 teenager murderers found that 13 had experienced severe abuse such as physical beating, incest, and forced sodomy. Studies show that child abuse can be greatly reduced by neighbourhood walk arounds. If every church adopted the community around their church, and did weekly walk abouts they would observe child abuse, neglect and other crimes in the making. This is a powerful crime prevention process. Using this methodology, since there is a church on every corner, we could revolutionize the Bahamas in three years.

Traumatization

Murder or violence not only affects the victim. Each victim has a sociophile of about 100 people (including family, friends, church, and neighbours) who in turn are traumatized by the victim's trauma. Symptoms of trauma include

• Intrusive symptoms: flashbacks, nightmares.
• Arousal symptoms: anger, revenge, fighting, rebellion. A young lady rushed into our programme with a machete saying some one had just killed her brother. Because her brother was the supporter of the family and acted like the father, she felt obligated to kill his murderer. At that point Ms. Idena Burrows, one of our volunteers whose son was murdered, prayed with her. The lady left the programme relieved. She said if it had not been for Ms. Burrows' intervention she would have been a murderer that day. This is a powerful example of people helping people.
• Insecurity symptoms: withdrawal, fear of being alone, need for gang membership.

A young boy whose friend was killed in a mall parking lot said, "He was killed because he was alone. He should have been with his boys."

• Magical thinking: A young boy told me, "If you get stabbed, just hold your chest and you will not die. My friend did it and he lived."
• Upside down values. A group of 12 to 15 year olds said they did not expect to live as long as 25 to 30 years because they knew someone who was killed.
• Thinking violence is cool. A 15-year-old who stabbed another boy said violence is cool. If you kill you get stripes in the hood and will only spend six months in jail.
• Suicidal tendencies. When a young person committed suicide, the friends in the group said the person was better off, and they wished they could do the same. Young people see life as purely a body experience i.e. looks good, feels good and having good things. But when we don't have the good things life is meaningless. We have to examine our theology, because killing the body does not destroy life. "What should it profit if a person gains the whole world, but loses his soul?"
• Poor cognitive skills, disinterest in school, inability to concentrate and poor impulse controls. This leads to fighting and stabbings.

Root Causes of Crime -

Persons interviewed claimed that the root cause of crimes are (1) Lack of family rearing and cohesion (2) Inadequacy of the Judicial system (3) Poor education making crime a viable alternate for kids who can't get a job or refuse work (4) Violent Chronic Drug Syndrome with its increasingly bold executions - as seen in Nassau, Mexico, Jamaica. (5) Unemployment and (6) child abuse. Other main concerns that still confront us are domestic violence and an increasingly callous indifferent public that has gradually moved into the danger zone of learned helplessness. Sadly the people, including the church, are beaten down and are close to giving up feel hopeless. Parents are advising their kids not to return home and encourage them to seek careers in the USA or Canada.

The psychodynamics of Violence and Murder

All violence begins with hurt involving, either, abandonment, rejection or humiliation. This produces a powerful shame response involving loss of face, low self esteem, being dissed (disrespected), cheated, made fun of or betrayed, etc. Shame is self hatred aimed at me, i.e. the person internalized the hurt against himself and now becomes destructive to himself and others.

The Shame response results in Narcissistic Rage (murderous anger) which leads to self violence (abuse, or suicide) or threatening behaviour or homicide.

The degree of the violence or murder is directly proportional to the intensity of the shame and not the hurt. The intensity of the shame response depends on (a) The relationship of the person doing the shaming (b) The witness of the shame process (c) The surprise element of the shame (d) If a person is shamed in a area they feel insecure about, e.g. body defect, or insecurity with girlfriend (e) Alcohol or drugs (f) brain dysrythmias e.g. seizures (h) Previous shame experiences.

PERSON:

Hurt, shame response, narcisstic rage, suicide or murder.

Violent crime can only be prevented by decreasing the shame response through loving, caring and understanding, e.g. gestures, education, child protection and support, involvement with work within the community, caring for the indigent and unemployed and making opportunities for growth. i.e. developing a cohesive and symphonic community.

In essence the high violent crime epidemic of the Bahamas is because we have evolved into an uncaring disconnected Nation.

Recommendations -

• Establishment of a National Crime Forum.

This committee should not be an adhocracy that does another report and disbands. But should be Government operated and part of the bureaucracy approved on for a 3-5 year basis to oversee the implementation of anti-crime initiatives and tackles the root causes of crime. They should be visible in the community and work in conjunction with the police. It is ridiculous to put the full burden of crime on the already over worked police force. They cannot be responsible for the root causes of crime.

Sir Robert Peele said, "The police is the public and the public is the police." We have an excellent police force, but they can only be as effective as the public is supportive. The process of reducing crime in a population requires an effective social contract between government and non-government agencies. Such a social contract can be created by the government establishing an entity called "The National Crime Forum" made up of a microcosm of society dealing with the root causes of crime, including persons representing government (e.g. Health, Social Welfare and Law Enforcement, the Church, Business (e.g. Chamber of Commerce), The Media, Charity Groups (e.g. Rotary, Red Cross), Special Interest Groups (e.g. Families Against Murder, The Crisis Centre, Children's Rights Group, The Professional and Security Officers Association ,etc) and ordinary members of society (e.g. a victims of violent crime). The crime committee sanctioned by government with a focused, no nonsense leader will provide a united front for citizens to work hand in hand with the police and the public to confront the monster of violent crime. This will go a long way to negate the feelings of societal hopelessness, apathy and pessimism associated with community fragmentation and fear in this present crisis.

Function of the National Crime Forum:

• Raise the public awareness of crime and its solutions through discussions at Town Meetings, Media Involvement, and in community Walk Around's.
• Increase public cooperation to support our policemen and other Law enforcement personnel.
• Act as an advocate for victims of violent crimes - decrease the traumatization of victims and small children by giving love and support.
• Follow crime statistics and make sure International data on crime are accurate.
• Create a National Anger Management and Conflict Resolution Programme for persons in the media, school, church, as well as charity groups.
• Act as a Think Tank to examine the root causes of crime through research and explore possible solutions.
• Fighting crime is expensive; the committee could encourage the collection of funds to fight crime. For example, if 50,000 Bahamians gave $1 per week, in one year we will have $2,400,000. A committee of distinguished accountants could be appointed to monitor such a fund.
• Encourage the church to be directly involved in fighting the root causes of crime. The churches could patrol their areas and act as a community support centre for victims of crime.
• Establish the integration Citizen Crime Watch Organizations in all areas.
• Establish a National Parenting programme by bringing together all groups presently involved in doing such work. A nation is judged by the way it treats its children.

Reformation of the Legal System

The Legal System needs to be reformed so that justice is accomplished in a timely fashion. The Government has provided legislation to enhance this. It will take time for this.

• Increase recruitment of Police personnel both locally and abroad -

We have an excellent police force who works tirelessly to solve our crime problem. But our police need even more help. In our research all of the respondents said the increased presence of more police on the street and in neglected areas is the best deterrent to crime. They said Bahamians still have a fear of police and dogs. Combining both is a strong signal that business is not as usual.

• Provide incentives to attract young Bahamians into law enforcement
• Organize Exchange police programmes with particular countries in the Caribbean, Canada, UK, Israel i.e. 30 of our policemen go there and 30 of their policemen come here, this produces cross fertilization, enhances competency and breaks the incestuous nature of the force thus creating an even more effective police force.
• Strengthen witness Protection Programme

Implement and strengthen the Witness Protection Act: (Bahamians are becoming afraid to give testimony to violent crimes).

• Use out of town placement for certain vulnerable witnesses.
• Organize special training for police or others in the witness protection programme
• Capital punishment

Enforce the law of capital punishment, especially if a person has killed more than once.

Close Circuit Television (CCT)

Implement CCTV throughout Nassau, especially in crime ridden areas. Much is being done and the results are amazing. The reduction of drugs on CCTV is an excellent development. The technology improves daily and will prove even more effective in the future. The Government has moved to put this in place.

Establish a National Parenting Programme

Parenting is a job which demands skills which can be taught and learned. Similarly, behaviour is learned, and as a result can be unlearned. The creation of a National Parenting Programme will contribute to short term and long term solutions to destructive behaviour.

Train Law Enforcement Personnel to be more sensitive to Victims of Violent Crimes:

Victims of crime are traumatized and the manner in which they are spoken to or cared for can make a difference in their ability to cope with the tragedy and court trial.

Enforce the Domestic Violence Act

Domestic or relationship violence and stalking requires quick decisive action. The Domestic Violence Act provides for this, but the act must be enforced. One of the referrals to our programme had her finger chopped off by her lover.

Establish Residential Programme for Extremely at Risk Youth

The establishment of a residential programme for extremely at risk youth based on a group psychotherapy model as opposed to the boot camp approach provides hope and habilitation for our young men! We have observed how the group therapy model is affecting the young people in our programme in Nassau and Washington, DC.

Establish a mandatory national service programme for wayward youth

We meet so many young men who have been expelled from school and hang out on the blocks. Such a programme would be very helpful to them to give structure and hope.

Conclusion

We all need to counteract the culture of violence and destruction with a culture of life and hope. We need leaders in all segments of the community; Leaders are persons who absorb chaos, exude calm and instil hope. All of us are called to be leaders in our sphere of influence. This requires a perceptual shift from anger/frustration (chaos) to calm. Anger is a portal into evil, violence and murder. Gratitude is a portal into life, love and hope. Steps to achieve this perceptual shift from anger to love are:

• Take time out.
• Silence. (Allows the heart to settle)
• Breathe deeply for two minutes. ( Relaxation)
• Recite/meditate on a simple prayer: "Lord God has mercy." (The source of love)
• Think of someone who loved you unconditionally as a child. (The stream of love)
• Visualize a place where you feel relaxed and peaceful. (The place of love)
• Write down three things you are grateful for. (Gratitude is a portal into love)

If we practice these when we are angry or hurt, we make the Perceptual Shift from Anger to Love.

"Our choice to do something is brief, but if we refuse the consequences are devastating."

March 30, 2012

tribune242

The need to enrich our knowledge

REFLECTIONS OF FIDEL


(Taken from CubaDebate)

FILMED scenes of the slaughter in Libya, which are beginning to be made known, prompt outrage over the total absence of humanism and the gross lies which served as the pretext to invade and seize that country’s natural resources.

NATO military aircraft supported the monstrous crime with more than 25,000 combat missions.

They stated that the Libyan government possessed funds in excess of $20 billion, deposited abroad. At this point in time nobody knows where that money is and what has been done with it.

A fraudulent electoral process guaranteed the theft of the presidency of the most powerful nation by George W. Bush, an alcoholic without medical treatment or the most elemental ethical principles, who ordered West Point graduates to prepare to mount surprise, unannounced attacks on 60 or more dark corners of the world.

A similarly alienated person, by simply opening a briefcase, could determine the use of thousands of nuclear weapons; with a small percentage of these, such a person could end human life on the planet.

It is sad to recall that on the opposite side of the yankee superpower, another alienated person, with three bottles of vodka in his stomach, proclaimed the disintegration of the USSR and the dismantling of more than 400 nuclear emplacements, which had within their range all the military bases threatening that country.

These events did not constitute any surprise. Throughout many years of struggle, acquired experience, contact with events, ideas and historical processes left no room for any surprises.

Today, Russian leaders are trying to reconstruct that powerful state which cost so much effort and sacrifice to create.

When Pope John Paul II visited our country in 1998, I conversed on diverse subjects with an envoy of his. I particularly remember the occasion when we sat down to dine in a small room in the Palace of the Revolution with Joaquín Navarro Valls, the Pope’s spokesman, seated facing me. On his right was an amiable and intelligent priest who came with the spokesman and accompanied John Paul II in the masses.

Curious about details, I asked Navarro Valls: Do you believe that the immense sky with millions of stars was created for the pleasure of earth’s inhabitants when we deign to look upward one night?

"Absolutely," he replied. "It is the only inhabited planet in the universe."

Then I turned to the priest and said to him, What do you think of that, Father? He replied, "In my opinion there is a 99.9% possibility that intelligent life exists on another planet." His response was not in violation of any religious principle. I mentally multiplied the figure who knows how many times. It was the kind of response I considered correct and serious.

Afterwards, that noble priest was always friendly with our country. One does not have to share beliefs in order to share a friendship.

Today, Thursday, as is happening with increasing frequency, a European entity of known repute in relation to the subject, textually states:

"There could be billions of planets, not much larger than Earth, revolving around weak stars in our galaxy, according to an international team of astronomists.

"This estimated number of super-Earths – planets with up to 10 times the mass of Earth – are based on detections already made and then extrapolated to include the population of the so-called ‘dwarf stars’ of the Milky Way."

"’Our new observations with HARPS mean that about 40 percent of all red dwarf stars have a super-Earth orbiting in the habitable zone where liquid water can exist on the surface of the planet,’ said Xavier Bonfils, team leader at France's Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble.

"Given that red dwarfs are so common – there are about 160 billion of them in the Milky Way – this leads us to the surprising result that there could be tens of millions of these planets in our galaxy alone."

"Their studies suggest that there are super-Earths in habitable zones in 41% of cases, with a range of 28-95%."

"About 40% of all red dwarf stars have a super-Earth orbiting in the habitable zone where liquid water can exist."

"This leads to the obvious question, whether one of these planets is not only inhabitable but has life."

"But, the red draft stars are believed to be prone to stellar eruptions or flares. This particular characteristic of the star could make attract ultraviolet radiation and at the same time life would become impossible on the star.

"’We have an idea of how to find traces of life on these planets,’ said Stephane Udry, an astrophysics researcher at the Obervatory of Geneva."

"If we can identify traces of atmospheric gases then we would have signs of life in other worlds."

A simple reading of these news items demonstrates the possibility and the necessity of enriching our knowledge, currently fragmented and dispersed.

Maybe that would lead us to more critical positions concerning the superficiality with which we address both cultural and material problems. I do not have the slightest doubt that our world is changing much more rapidly than we are capable of imagining.

Fidel Castro Ruz

March 29, 2012

8:15 p.m.

Translated by Granma International 

Bahamas Blog International

The Cuban government, the Roman Catholic Church and the Cuban humanitarian group, the Ladies in White (Las Damas de Blanco), all formidable entities in their own right, found themselves thrust upon the world stage together this week as a result of Pope Benedict XVI’s first trip to Latin America in five years

Pope's Cuban pilgrimage and the suppression of the Ladies in White


by Faizaan Sami, COHA Research Associate



The Cuban government, the Roman Catholic Church and the Cuban humanitarian group, the Ladies in White (Las Damas de Blanco), all formidable entities in their own right, found themselves thrust upon the world stage together this week as a result of Pope Benedict XVI’s first trip to Latin America in five years.

Ahead of the papal three-day visit to Cuba, many of the Ladies in White were held by Cuban officials; a series of detentions that were initially prompted by the occupation of a local church in Cuba by members of the Republican Party of Cuba. The anti-Castro demonstrators were attempting to influence the pope before his impending arrival to directly address the human rights abuses leveled against the Castro regime.

The United States, a long time advocate of the Ladies in White, naturally glommed onto the public protest and, unsurprisingly, Havana was quick to accuse Washington of propping up the “subversive” movement. Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for the National Security Council said the detentions revealed “the disdain of the Cuban authorities” for civilian rights and critiqued “the acts of those who are standing in the way of the basic aspirations of the Cuban people.”

For breaching the strict, state-administered regulations of their weekly protest, the Cuban government has prohibited the Ladies of White from future protests, revoking what was already a narrowed platform to express their views.

In light of their suppression, it was expected that Pope Benedict XVI would emulate his predecessor John Paul II in publicly denouncing the Cuban administration as well as meet with the religious dissidents. However, the pope showed a reluctance to be drawn into alliance with either the Cuban administration or the anti-Castro dissidents, even those that are directly affiliated with the Church, demonstrating the Catholic institution’s principal intent to become reconnected with Cuban society at large and avoid intervention on domestic matters.

Back on October 16, 2011, the Ladies in White marched in somber stride through the streets of Havana, holding white gladiolas just as they had done for eight years after every Sunday mass at the Santa Rita de Casia Catholic Church. However, there was a special significance attached to that day; it was the first silent protest without their founding member, sixty-three year old Laura Pollán, who succumbed to cardiac arrest while under hospital care.

Pollán founded the Ladies in White after her husband, Héctor Maseda, an independent journalist, was arrested during the three day ‘Black Spring’ raid in March 2003, along with 74 other Cuban dissidents. The journalists were accused of “subverting the internal order of the nation” and received sentences ranging from six to twenty-eight years incarceration. Gradually, Pollán mobilized the wives of other dissidents and held routine marches to push for their release, even under conditions of adversity, when pro-government protestors would harangue the group during their marches.

In March 2011, the remaining dissidents were released, largely due to the efforts of the Spanish government and the Catholic Church in reaching an agreement with Raúl Castro for the prisoners to flee into exile; a condition that was not entirely adhered by those that were released. In spite of certain developments, such as the release of those incarcerated during the Black Spring, the subsequent fragmentation of membership resulting from the emigration of reunited families as well as the regrettable death of their leader, the Ladies in White have continued to demonstrate after every Sunday mass.

The impending arrival of his Holiness was viewed as an opportunity for their claims to be finally heard by the leader of the very institution that helped them form an unbreakable solidarity. However, compromised by the government’s authority, the Ladies in White and the Catholic Church were unable to establish a direct connection on this particular trip.

The Prospect of Conciliation Mediated by the Pope Benedict XVI

Received by Raúl Castro at the Santiago airport on March 26, the papal visit to Cuba is meant to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the El Cobre sanctuary of the country’s patroness, our Lady of Cobre, but there were certain other elements that comprised his visit. Of course, the primary agenda was to reach out to the Cuban majority and reinstitute the Catholic faith at a time when the country has been incorporating certain minimalist civil liberties and opportunities to its citizenry. Most of the Cuban faithful fled to the United States after the 1959 Cuban revolution, the vast majority of which now reside in Miami, but an estimated 800 Cuban Americans made the journey to attend the Pope’s mass in Havana.

While the nature of the pope’s visit was claimed to be “pastoral,” in light of the recent demonstrations in Havana, comparisons were inevitably drawn to Pope John Paul II’s visit to Cuba in 1998, which had marked inferences regarding the protection of civil rights and releasing incarcerated dissidents.

Apart from the expected denouncement of the US embargo on Cuba, as previously iterated by Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI was unlikely to be drawn into the current political skirmish. Not only would intervention threaten the Catholic Church’s mending relationship with the Cuban administration and thus its long-term goals in the country, but because it wouldn’t correspond with the Church’s current emphasis on counteracting its dwindling supporter base.

The pope, however, did give a frank assessment of Cuba’s Marxist political and economic framework, claiming it “no longer corresponds to reality.” But far from advocating outright economic liberalization, he also criticized the West’s capitalist model for leaving “humanity devoid of values” and “defenseless” against predatory powers.

The Resurgence of Catholicism in Cuba?

In some ways, there hasn’t been a better time for the Catholic Church to re-establish itself into the social fabric of this Caribbean island state, due in part to the efforts of Cuba’s Cardinal Jaime Ortega, who has been able to position the church increasingly as an intermediary force on the island. Under Ortega, the Church has offered care centers and limited training programs and pushed for church administered education, not to mention it was the Cardinal who helped to negotiate the release of the Black Spring political dissidents.

With various external forces trickling into the socialist state, the combination of light economic and social reforms under Raúl Castro’s government has highlighted a degree of adaptation of the stringent style of governance that his brother practiced. Raúl’s burgeoning relationship with the Cardinal is indicative of the leader’s acknowledgement of the Church as a positive influence in not only uniting the population but also providing them it with a semi-autonomous authority capable of adequately nurturing the population.

As it seeks to gain legitimacy outside of its US-inflicted seclusion, the promotion of religious freedom will deliver the benefit of reinforcing Cuba’s association with that of the Latin American region in which Catholicism plays a prominent role.

On the other hand, with the backing of the Cuban administration, the Catholic Church now has the capacity to influence public discourse in Cuba over the long term, a prospect that would have been vulnerable if it visibly sided with the Ladies in White.

As he stood before several hundred thousand Cubans at the open-air Mass in Havana, Pope Benedict XVI used the opportunity to directly connect with the public, ticking all the right boxes. In his speech, the pope urged for the recalibration of Cuban society characterized by greater civil liberties and material resources for Cubans, going on to denounce the US embargo, all of which reinforced papal indifference to government influence.

Cuba’s Minister of Planning and Economy, Marino Murillo, responded promptly and succinctly, confirming that in Cuba, “there would be no political reform.” The various initiatives of the Church, such as instituting Catholic teaching in schools, gaining access to broadcast networks, declaring Good Friday a public holiday and building new churches have been proposed to the Cuban administration but the general consensus is that the status quo will remain.

However, as marginal reform occurs under Raúl Castro’s administration and as both the president and Cardinal Ortega form a deeper relationship, it is the sense of timing that could ensure that the pope’s visit will act as a catalyst for change in the hearts in minds of the Cuban public.

March 31, 2012

caribbeannewsnow

Bahamas Blog International

The Bahamas: Branville McCartney - Democratic National Alliance leader on the spousal rape amendment: "I do not think (spousal rape) should be illegal

BLACKLISTED: BRANVILLE MCCARTNEY


By NOELLE NICOLLS
Tribune Features Editor
nnicolls@tribunemedia.net

Nassau, The Bahamas



WHEN it comes to illegal immigration Branville McCartney, member of parliament for Bamboo Town, time and time again, proves himself to be a master at pandering, but last week he added a new issue to his chest, in a desperate attempt to galvanise some form of base for his fledgling political party, the Democratic National Alliance.

According to Mr McCartney, rape in marriage is "too hard to prove", so the state should not waste its time implementing laws to enfranchise women with authority over their own bodies. "I do not think (spousal rape) should be illegal. I maintain that," said Mr McCartney, DNA leader.

He said so last week, during a taping of the TV programme Citizen's Review, hosted by Erin Ferguson, while fielding questions about the amendment to the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act, proposed by the Free National Movement (FNM) in 2009.

Although Mr McCartney has since tried to back-track on his comments, because of his political miscalculation, sources who attended the event are saying, "not so fast Mr McCartney. You were clear and direct when you articulated your position."

The DNA's new official line is that if elected the choice will be put to the people. Mr McCartney should know by now that not all of us were born yesterday.

His personal views are no trivial matter, not just because he aspires to sit in the ultimate seat of political power, but also because this is a married man with two young daughters. What does it say about a change-agent candidate who cannot even be counted on to vote in the best interest of his own children.

I would love to hear him at bed time say, I love you honey, and just to show you how much, I am supporting a law that says, if your husband forces you to have sex against your will, too bad. It is your duty to please him at his leisure.

"When at the end of the day, you are sleeping in the same bed as your wife or spouse, you become one in that regard, and rape is very difficult to prove, especially as sexual intercourse is a part of marriage," said Mr McCartney.

These unfortunate positions ushered Mr McCartney into the spotlight last week not as the change-agent he would like us to see him, but as the anti-change agent, who seems satisfied with representing the dying bastions of patriarchal power. From a women's rights point of view that makes him public-enemy number one.

I am satisfied that on the issue of spousal rape, time will settle the score, but for now, Mr McCartney, the self anointed voice of anti-progress, will have to face the chorus of outrage from empowered Bahamian women many of whom have now added him to their blacklist.

Before he switched his mouth, I was ready to give Mr McCartney credit for one thing, laying his cards on the table. At the time, I thought it was more than I could say for the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), who have pretty much sidestepped the issue, hiding behind a calculated political strategy of silent deliberation or sitting on the fence.

To his credit, Alfred Sears, PLP member of parliament for Fort Charlotte, was one of the few vocal PLP supporters of the amendment. He is a survivor of child abuse. Fred Mitchell, member of parliament for Fox Hill also spoke publicly in support of the amendment.

The FNM, although it brought forward the amendment, eventually took their cards off the table, cowering to the misogynist crusade of religious fundamentalists and their bandwagonists.

Sadly, however, Mr McCartney has proved himself as spineless as the rest. And his reward, given that he is on the wrong side of progress for women, is egg in the face.

For Mr McCartney's sake, and the wider Bahamian public, I shall attempt to break down this spousal rape issue into basic common sense.

Rape

The Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act defines rape, in its basic form, as the act of any person not under 14 years of age having sexual intercourse with another person who is not his spouse without the consent of that other person.

Where the parties are under the age of 14, the law classifies the act as unlawful sexual intercourse. If both parties are married, the law writes it off as an unfortunate situation, suggesting that the act of rape does not occur because a man is simply exercising his conjugal right, and a woman her conjugal duty.

The Bahamas inherited the spousal rape exception clause directly from antiquated British Common Law. It is just one of several areas in law that discriminate against married Bahamian women, on the basis that men, once upon a time, saw women, including their wives, as only a step above chattel slaves.

It is natural that I, a young, black, woman - the antithesis to the old guard - would stand at odds with that way of thinking, but I dare say that as a society, the majority of us have collectively evolved past that way of thinking. Right?

So I ask the question: Why are we making enemies out of married women? Why is it so difficult for Bahamians to adopt the common sense principle that married women should have equal rights in law to unmarried women, and furthermore that all Bahamian men and women and their children should have equal rights?

Just like opponents of the spousal rape amendment, opponents of the citizenship amendment that would empower all Bahamian women equally with the right to confer citizenship to their children like to obfuscate the issue, using red herrings to overshadow the common sense reality.

Advocates of the spousal rape amendment are not trying to rob any group of their rights or empower women with rights not already afforded to any other group? Advocates are simply saying do not discriminate against married women. The argument stops there and so does the proposed amendment. What is so egregious about that?

Marriage

What kind of institution is marriage to aspire to if Bahamian women are simply opening themselves up to egregious forms of discrimination, wilfully supported by pandering politicians.

The fact that a man and woman become one when they get married, or when they consummate their marriage, is metaphorical, even within the religious context, and even where it is understood that a metaphysical bond is formed.

For the sake of clarity I am going old-school, to the days of Debate Club: The online reference book, Dictionary.com defines metaphorical as "a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance."

Outside of speaking about the conception of a child, a husband and wife do not literally become one when they get married. It is a metaphor. The "oneness" principle is not even mandated by the marital contract, a legal contract which generally oversees the distribution of marital assets. A man and woman are entitled to joint or separate assets, and in no circumstance is one partner considered the asset of the other.

So despite Mr McCartney's bogus suggestion, or the popular Christian interpretation, a marriage should not rob a wife of her free will, her identity, legal or otherwise, or her body.

The so-called responsibility to engage in sexual intercourse within a marriage should therefore have no bearing on the individuality of either party and their right to express that individuality, even by saying no to sex.

I believe everyone should have the right to conceive of marriage as they wish, even those who believe sexual obligation is central to the principle of becoming one. But shouldn't all right thinking people, even Christians, agree that when this principle is extended to the point of sexual violence, rape, then the law should afford spouses protection and due process.

Religious Values

And on the matter of religious values, the record is public. The following churches supported, and presumably still support, the proposed amendment when it was tabled: The Anglican Diocese, the Catholic Archdiocese, the Bahamas Conference of the Methodist Church, and the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

The Bahamas Christian Council, surprise, surprise, was the champion of the lone rangers. Even apparent moderates like the respected Dr Myles Munroe raised red herring questions like whether "the long arm of the government" should extend to the "marriage bed."

While advocates of the spousal rape amendment have no qualms with religious values, they are drawn into conflict with religious leaders who use their faith-based pulpit to spread misinformation, over-inflate unfounded concerns, spread alarm and mislead the public. To what end?

At the height of the public discourse, former Christian Council president Rev Patrick Paul said he was concerned about the law opening the door for evil, malignant, spiteful women, and whoremongers to "get back at someone, because of some unfortunate circumstance."

Let me get this straight: Rev Paul conceives of rape as an "unfortunate circumstance" and further believes the constituency of evil, malignant, spiteful women is so substantial that in his righteousness, he must protect the society against their whoremongering ways. If this were not astounding enough, there are Bahamian women who have no objection with this self portrayal. Are we asleep or what?

Bottom line, the last time I checked, for all that we have learned about marriage from the good book, neither God the Father, the Son nor the Holy Spirit, condones a man raping his wife. Show me the justification, and I will eat a healthy serving of humble pie.

Bahamians should be very concerned, because many of these religious figures masquerading out there as leaders have very little knowledge of basic, yet fundamental facts of life, particularly when it comes to women's issues.

Pastor Cedric Moss, for example, of the Kingdom Life Church, said the following, shortly after the amendment was first tabled in 2009: "Any forced sexual acts on wives by husbands in non-estranged marriages should be punishable as some other crime, perhaps indecent assault, and not treated as if it were rape by a stranger."

Someone forgot to tell Pastor Moss that the perception that strangers are by and large responsible for rape is a false perception. Most rapes worldwide are committed by people known to the victims. Therefore, acquaintance rapes, although universally difficult to prove, account for the large majority of rapes.

Some countries in the world recognising that rape laws, with their false underlying assumptions, are insufficient to address this reality, have advanced their legislation to specifically address the challenges of acquaintance rape, thereby providing greater protection for their citizens.

Pastor Moss was also pushing the idea that inside a marriage there is a "contract that implies open-ended sexual consent." Say what? Show me the contract so I know where not to sign.

Common sense

The spousal rape amendment is not setting any new religious precedents, and it is not establishing a new definition of what a marriage is or is not.

The proposed amendment simply seeks to equalize how the definition of rape is applied, acknowledging that where married women suffer this most brutal form of sexual assault, the law should afford them due process.

I have faith that common decency and common sense will prevail in the end, and that on this issue, one day, there will be a government that does the right thing.

In the meantime, will women of the Bahamas, and decent, right-thinking men, for God's sake, please stand up and let their voices be heard.

We should be so solidly galvanised around this issue that green, red or yellow, no government should have a choice but to support this issues.

March 26, 2012


tribune242

Bahamas Blog International