PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
27 November, 2020
End Rape Culture: Minors Cannot Consent
St John’s, Antigua and Barbuda – 27 November, 2020 (AB): Caribbean Women in Leadership joins with its Antigua and Barbuda National Chapter in expressing serious concern regarding comments made by the Minister of Social Transformation, Human Resource Development and the Blue Economy and Member of Parliament for St. George, Hon. Dean Jonas, during an interview on ABS Television on November 25th, 2020. In illustrating a point, the Minister who is responsible for Gender Affairs, misspoke while addressing the issue of legal consent to sexual intercourse within the legal framework.
Although a clarification was given, which explained the comments as ‘a slip of the tongue’, they remain concerning, especially as November 25th was the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Antigua and Barbuda is also a signatory of both the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention Against Discrimination Against Women.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to erode economic security children are at even more risk for sexual exploitation. It is critical that leaders in the region and globally understand the ways harmful beliefs, and stereotypes exacerbate gender-based violence (GBV) and fuel gender inequality. Gender parity in leadership and transformational leadership are a few ways in which countries can fight the scourge of GBV and violence against women and children specifically.
According to UN Women Caribbean, children under sixteen years of age cannot by law give consent to sexual intercourse and a wide range of other sexual activities. Furthermore, the Antigua and Barbuda Sexual Offences Act 1995, Section 5(1), states that ‘where a male person has sexual intercourse with a female person who is under the age of fourteen years, he is guilty of an offence, whether or not the female person consented to the intercourse or whether or not at the time of the intercourse, he believed her to be fourteen years of age or more’. All perpetrators must take responsibility for their actions and face the consequences of the law, in accordance with the due process to which they are entitled.
All women and girls deserve the best representation from a state which has led the region through the leadership of its outstanding women advocates and its Directorate of Gender Affairs. The Minister must set the tone for the nation and be accountable for his statements and actions. The CIWiL Regional Secretariat and the CIWiL Antigua and Barbuda National Chapter call for a renewed commitment to gender equality and a deep understanding among the duty bearers in Parliament and the state of their responsibility to contribute to an equitable state for every citizen of Antigua and Barbuda.
CIWiL as a body stands firm in our desire to achieve gender equality and work with governments and organisations to raise awareness about the damaging effects of GBV and the elimination of violence against women and girls.
###
#EndGBV #16Days #OrangetheWorld #GenerationEquality #CIWiL