Bahamas government commits to end gender-based violence by 2030

The government of Bahamas has committed to doing all in its power to end gender-based violence by 2030.

While Addressing the 2019 Launch of the sixteen days of Activism for the exclusion of violence against women and girls on Monday, Frankie Campbell, Minister of urban development and Social Services, gave the commitment on account of the government while attending the International Conference on Population Development 25th Anniversary meeting.

The meeting was a High-Level Summit that concentrated on the recommitment of world leaders to achieve the ICPD Programme of Action that launched in Cairo, Egypt, in 1994, and an appreciation of its “important contribution” to stimulating the success of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 Agenda.

Campbell said: “I was pleased, on behalf of the government and people of the Bahamas, to commit that the Bahamas will do all that it can to end gender-based violence by 2030 – zero gender-based violence by 2030.”

Adding further he said, that is an arduous undertaking, but it is something I am convinced that we can do if everyone participates; if everyone finds their part and get up and do something

He outlined the government’s Plan of Action to meet this objective through the Ministry, the Department of Gender and Family Affairs and its various stakeholders and partners.

One perspective of the plan is to place even more prominent focus on the perpetrators of gender-based violence.

“We realise that as we work and focus on changing the mindsets and perspectives of those who would have already committed those breaches and infractions, that it is crucial that we also work on some level of prevention and so we will work with 500 boys from the private- and public school sector to cause them to have an appreciation for the partnerships that are necessary with our females; for the roles that they (as males) were called upon to play by the Almighty Himself, for them to protect our females; for them to have an appreciation that in order for the Bahamas to advance to the next level, we must have those firm and stable partnerships between boys and girls who will grow up to be men and women who will take over this country from us.

“We will also work with the Archdiocese of Nassau [Roman Catholic Church] which has a programme for batterers [The Men’s Group] that is populated predominantly by persons who are sent from the Courts.”

Campbell also stressed that the country needs to have “an all hands on deck” attitude in the fight to end gender-based violence and violence in general.