Thursday, February 10, 2011

The Bahamas- A Christian place where men can rape their wives

Oh yes and if we look at the demographics, in total the population is 95% Christian.

http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2005/51625.htm

For all about rape in the bible, see here: http://www.evilbible.com/Rape.htm

While the site is atheist, and I do not agree with some things, the point is about what is written in the bible.



Marital rape law 'is a human right'

A POWERFUL human rights group has thrown its weight behind the government's plan to outlaw marital rape in the Bahamas.

Amnesty International has vowed to back the proposed amendment of the Sexual Offences Act in order to protect the rights of every Bahamian woman.

A spokesman for the group told The Tribune: "Amnesty International would certainly support that law being passed.

"We view women's rights as a human right. If there is abuse in any kind of relationship, whether it is within a marriage or with unmarried couples, or in the case of incest, all of those are matters that need to be dealt with properly within the law.

"On the basic stance of the law, Amnesty would support the way it's written to support persons rights."

The amendment, introduced to the House of Assembly by Minister of State for Social Development Loretta Butler-Turner last month, has sparked a heated national debate on the issue.

In Parliament last month, Mrs Butler-Turner noted that the current law is outdated adding that spousal rape had long been outlawed in many other countries.

American law recognised marital rape as a crime in 1976 but it is still a sensitive issue as many states have lesser penalties for persons convicted of the offence, compared to acquaintance rape or that of a stranger.

The present law in the Bahamas defines rape as an act of any person not under 14 years of age having sex with another person who is not his spouse without the consent of that other person; without consent that had been extorted by threats or fear of bodily harm; with consent obtained by impersonating the spouse of the other person; or with consent obtained by false and fraudulent representations as to the nature and quality of the act.

The proposed amendment would omit the words "who is not his spouse" in essence making it illegal for any person to have sex with another without consent -- regardless if they are married or not.

Under the current law, rape can only occur in a marriage if the couple is legally separated.

Some local religious leaders have argued that a man cannot rape his wife claiming the Bible dictates that a wife must physically submit to her husband.

Controversial pastor Cedric Moss has vocally opposed the legislation claiming the amendment would create a "society of rapists." Citing the "word of God", Mr Moss argued that rape cannot be committed in marriage because the couple gave each other authority over the other's body and agreed to open-ended sexual consent in the marriage contract.

He argued that including spouses as potential rapists would contradict the sacrament of marriage.

"But can it be right to bring married people under such a law designed for unmarried people? No, and a thousand times, no! It is not right and it can never be right to bring all married couples under this definition of rape whereby moment by moment consent is required for every stage of every act of sexual intercourse.

"Each day you will be a potential rapist in your own home if you initiate sex with your wife without her consent," he told the Rotary Club of West Nassau earlier this month.

Other opponents believe the proposed change will devastate marriages and families in this country and say more discussion is needed before the amendment is signed into law.

Women's rights advocates hit back saying rape is rape and that a wife should have the right to tell her husband "No" to sex in order to defend herself from an abusive or promiscuous husband.

In its 2008 Human Rights Reports on the Bahamas, the United Nations noted that while rape is considered illegal in this country the current law does not address spousal rape.

"Violence against women continued to be a serious, widespread problem. The law prohibits domestic violence, and the government generally enforced the law. However, domestic violence laws do not provide penalties separate from other crimes of assault and battery and do not

effectively criminalize sexual violence within a marriage," said the report.

The report said that the RBPF dealt with 114 reported rapes last year, a decrease from 136 in 2007.


http://www.tribune242.com/08192009_bill_news_pg-1

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