The views expressed herein are solely those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of One News SVG.
Today, I continue to highlight an extremely serious and tragic issue in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) affecting not only our boy children but also our adult men: Male rape.
In SVG, rape against a female is explicitly a crime. Women and girls who allege acts of rape are covered under the rape provision in SVG’s Criminal Code. Meanwhile, in the case of girls below 13 years old and girls of or above the age of 13 but below the age of 15 years old, respectively, who cannot legally give sexual consent, they are covered under the statutory rape provisions in SVG’s Criminal Code.
On the other hand, in SVG no explicit rape or statutory rape provisions currently exist that covers men and boys who are victims/survivors of rape. Under the Criminal Code, male rape is not explicitly a crime. Legally speaking, men and boys cannot be raped in SVG. Instead, other inadequate laws are used to cover illegal acts that can be considered “male rape”.
This shocking sad state of affairs is absolutely disgraceful, a great injustice, and perpetuates gross inequality and discrimination based on sex or gender in Vincentian society.
Can you imagine the outrage, if this situation was reversed, and women and girls were not explicitly legally protected from the despicable crime of rape in SVG? Why then should men and boys have less legal protection?
Today, I call upon the State of SVG and on all elected representatives to protect our men and boys. We need real justice in this country and it often starts with us having progressive laws that protect.
No one is truly equal in SVG until all of us are equal under the law, and that includes male victims/survivors of rape.
Author: Jeshua Bardoo is a Vincentian lawyer, activist, writer, and NGO leader. He is the Founder, President and Executive Officer of Equal Rights, Access and Opportunities SVG Inc. (ERAO SVG). He has an LLM in international human rights law. In the past, he was the recipient of a national exhibition scholarship and also a UK Chevening Scholarship. He is also a past fellow at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, a McCain Global Leader Alumni, a Caribbean Climate Justice Leader’s Academy Alumni, and last year he was selected by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs to participate in their prestigious Future Leaders Invitation Programme (PIPA). He can be contacted via email at jeshuabardoo@gmail.com
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