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Food Insecurity

“The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2025 – Addressing high food price inflation for food security and nutrition”—published by the FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, and WHO—estimated that “between 638 and 720 million people, corresponding to 7.8 and 8.8 percent of the global population, respectively, faced hunger in 2024.” While hunger is expected to decrease between now and 2030, “512 million people are still projected to be facing hunger in 2030.” 

The FAO stated in “Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition” that The Bahamas has a food insecurity rate of 17.2%. Food insecurity exists when people do not have access to enough nutritious food to support their growth, development for active, healthy lifestyles. The food insecurity rate in The Bahamas is cause for concern for many reasons. We know that there are noncommunicable diseases that are rampant in our population, affected by our diets and lifestyles. Many of us have also heard the stories of children going to school without having had breakfast and little or nothing provided for lunch. Food insecurity is directly related to poverty which not only affects people’s ability to pay for food, but the time to procure, prepare, and eat it. Taxation on food has negatively and disproportionately impacted people experiencing poverty, and there is little attention to this worsening issue. 

Addressing food insecurity requires a change in systems. While immediate, direct assistance is necessary until we reach a state of food security, it is not going to solve the problem. People need to be able to afford food. Both the import of food and the taxation on food are drivers of food insecurity. Combined with the lack of a livable wage, we have a dangerous situation. People are working full time, often holding more than one job, and still cannot afford to buy nutritious food. Some do not have a stove, and some do not have electricity. Many have to buy a few items every single day for their survival, unable to afford a “big shop” and/or unable to properly store food for more than one or two days. There are people who can buy enough food, but do not have the means (including time) to prepare it, so they opt for fast food or packaged food products. The circumstances vary widely, yet bring us to the same place. People are unwell, tired, underperforming, and stressed because of their inability to meet their most basic needs. 

When politicians come knocking, trying to secure your votes, ask them what they have done and what they plan to do to increase food security. Ask them what support through Social Services is like now, and how it will change in the coming five years. Ask them which schools have breakfast programs and which do not. Ask them how backyard farming will be encourage. Ask them about community gardens and food pantries in your constituency. Ask them about taxation, particularly on food. Tell them this is a priority issue, and that you need to see a plan for addressing it.

Between now and the point of food security, there are people who need help, and there are organizations working to fill the gap.

 

You can support:

  1. Hands for Hunger. This is a “humanitarian organization committed to the elimination of unnecessary hunger and the reduction of food waste through the creation of meaningful and engaging partnerships formed amongst all sectors of the Bahamian community” which engages in food rescue, food distribution, and education. Hands for Hunger operates a food pantry which enables clients to make their own selections from a variety of offerings. Donations can be made at handsforhunger.org/donate.
  2. Bahamas Crisis Center. This is a nongovernmental organization that provides free counseling services, particularly people experiencing domestic violence or related crises. It provides support to its clients beyond counseling, including through its food pantry. To donate, contact administration at 328-0922 to make arrangements.
  3. Bahamas Feeding Network. Thirteen organizations formed a group to “perform as a hub for the collection and distribution of food items and financial and physical resources to the entities that interact daily with thousands throughout the archipelago plagued with the uncertainty of knowing where their next meal is coming from.” Donations can be made at bahamasfeedingnetwork.org/donate.
  4. Soup kitchens. These are often operated by faith-based organizations. Find the one nearest to you and ask how you can help. From grocery shopping and delivery to serving and cleanup, there is no shortage of work to do.

 

Ways to Give

Cash. Few people seem to be willing to give money to people in need of assistance. Some want the gratification of purchasing items themselves and being able to give physical items. Some want to control what others—people in need in particular—consume, wanting people to have only what they deem acceptable. There is a serious people with the refusal to trust people in situations of vulnerability to make the best decisions for themselves. The fact is that people know what they need better than anyone else. Being able to purchase items themselves also prevents accumulation of individual products in excess, reduces storage issues, avoids issues with allergies and other dietary restrictions, makes healthier options possible, and allows for treats that might be otherwise overlooked. Giving cash recognizing people’s agency.

Gift certificates. An easy way to support people in different families and a wide range of situations is through gift certificates to grocery stores, pharmacies, and gas stations. This enables people to make the most appropriate selections available to them on an as-needed basis. At certain time of the year, like the holiday season in December, there is an increase in giving. There is only so much that each person and/or family can accept and consume in a short period of time. Gift certificates have a longer life, and make a great alternative to giving canned goods which are high in sodium. Those with cars appreciate the gift certificates for gas, enabling them to get to and from stores in addition to the school run, work commute, and job interviews. 

Fresh produce. When supporting a particular family or organization, be sure to include fresh fruit and vegetables. Onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, and lime go a long way in helping canned goods to reach their flavor potential. Bananas, apples, and oranges make great, quick snacks for everyone. If you have fruit-bearing trees, share the bounty. There is nothing quite like native fruit, and it is a special treat when discovered in a mix of necessities. 

Canned goods with manual can opener. When canned goods seem like the best option, remember to include a can opener to ensure that the people you are helping do not have an additional barrier. Choose a variety of canned goods. Be sure to include canned vegetables and beans. 

When people are sleeping in their cars and parked on lines for hours and hours to receive vouchers and food, it is clear that we have a problem. No one should have to do this for food. Sustainable Development Goal two is to end hunger, and 2030 is not very far away.

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Tribute to a true hero advocate: Alice Wong. RIP.

DISABILITY Justice Advocate, Founder of Disability Visibility Project, and writer Alice Wong died at the age of 51 on November 15. A MacArthur Genius Award-winner, Alice was known for her brilliant ways of presenting current realities and possibilities, fierce advocacy, openness about her life, and wonderful sense of humour.

Alice was born with muscular dystrophy. She used a powered wheelchair and assistive breathing device, and she openly shared her experiences in medical care settings, having home care, and the importance of care networks populated by people who listen.

“Care is not a checklist of tasks and responsibilities,” she said. “Care is a shared value and actions operating in a larger political context within a hyper-capitalist, racist, ableist society that devalues certain types of labour and bodies.”

Alice Wong wrote Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life (2022), and she edited Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century (2020) and Disability Intimacy: Essays on Love, Care, and Desire (2024).

Alice was generous in her engagement through her published work and her social media presence. She was quick to not only offer commentary on and guidance through the COVID-19 pandemic, recognizing it as a mass disabling event, but to support people with long COVID in navigating their new realities. Her writing in Teen Vogue felt not only personal to her, but to the people reading. It was a conversation.

In October 2022, Teen Vogue published an excerpt from Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life. In it, Alice emphasized the importance of self-acceptance and community, and she did so in a way that implicitly aligned with her position on institutions—that we should all try to be free of them, and instead lean on our communities and experience the highest form of care at home.

“Growing up and becoming more comfortable in our own skin is a tough, nonlinear process. I am still working on myself as I imagine you are, too,” she wrote. “In the midst of your challenges and searches, I hope you are taking time to find joy in the world. Building and nurturing relationships gives me joy. It might take a while, but you will eventually find people who have your back whether they have the same disability or come from the same culture or not. And maybe there aren’t any solutions or immediate answers to the questions you’re asking. All we can do is discover what or who makes us happy now.”

It was and is a message for young people, for people going through transitions, for people with disabilities, and for people who are learning how to be themselves.

Alice founded the Disability Visibility Project (disabilityvisibilityproject.com), which is an online community that centres and amplifies disability media and culture. She believed that “disabled narratives matter and that they belong to us.” Her goal was to “build online spaces for people to share, organize, and connect,” and to “organize and facilitate events, give presentations, and participate on panels.”

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

Next week Tuesday is the first day of the Global 16 Days Campaign, also known as 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. As with many days, weeks, and months, it has been co-opted by various groups, including multilateral entities, whose related activities ignore the roots of the campaign, which are in feminist organizing. It is up to those of us who know better to do better, moving beyond the symbolic orange t-shirts and pins to undertake the change-making work that must be done year-round.

Tuesday, November 25 is also International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (IDEVAW). It is a day to acknowledge that women disproportionately experience gender-based violence. It is not a time for what-aboutism. It is not a time to wring hands about other groups of people and their particular experiences. It is a day to face reality: women experience gender-based violence at an alarming rate, worldwide, in the Caribbean, and in The Bahamas.

The report on the The Bahamas Women’s Health Survey was completed in 2022, and it has yet to be released. At a media briefing, some of the data was shared. One in every four women reported that they had experienced physical and/or sexual violence. More than one in every five women who survived physical and/or sexual violence did not talk to anyone about it. Sixty-five per cent of survivors of physical violence said it was severe (punched, hit with an object, dragged, choked, burned, threatened with a weapon).

Women are experiencing violence at high rates and high levels of severity. Many of them are not reporting to the police or seeking help elsewhere. They are suffering in silence, often hiding the horrific truth. We have built an environment that is unsafe for women in many ways. Violence has been normalized–survivors are often blamed for the violence they experienced– and it does not seem beneficial to report or even share what is happening with others.

We do not lack awareness. There are data and there are stories that let us know what is happening all around us, and that it does not just happen to certain “kinds” of women. We all know and love women who have experienced gender-based violence, and there are many among us who have not been deemed “safe people,” who would listen and offer support.

The approach to the issue of violence against women is ineffective. It does not centre the needs of survivors. It does not focus on eliminating stereotypes and systems that produce violence. It does not make use of available data to build coordinated reporting and care systems. It does not reach young people with critical information about consent, bodily autonomy, emotional intelligence, emotional regulation, nonviolent communication, or healthy relationships. It does not leverage international human rights mechanisms and the available resources to support systemic change.

As International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women approaches, find ways to:

•  Let people know that you are against violence and you are prepared to support women who have experienced violence.

•  Engage with your Member of Parliament or any candidate or party that wants your vote, applying pressure for them to articulate a plan to end gender-based violence against women.

•  Talk to the young people in your life about healthy relationships, red flags in relationships, consent, and nonviolent communication.

•  Pressure the current government administration to publish the report on The Bahamas Women’s Health Survey and to implement the comprehensive care model.

•  Push back against harmful gender stereotypes whenever and wherever you see them, including at home, in the workplace, and in social settings.

Recommendations

1.    Genocide Bad by Sim Kern. Publisher notes: “Part activist memoir, part crash course in Jewish and Palestinian history, Genocide Bad dismantles Zionist propaganda in 10 unapologetic essays. Drawing connections between Biblical promises and exploding pagers, medieval dress codes and modern-day apartheid, Kern sketches a sweeping history of imperialism with a characteristic blend of far-ranging research, pop-culture insights, and scathing humour.” Feminist Book Club, hosted by Equality Bahamas and Poinciana Paper Press is reading Genocide Bad this month, and meeting to discuss it on Wednesday, November 19 at 6pm. Register: tiny.cc/fbc2025

2.    Global 16 Days Campaign. This campaign, to focus on ending gender-based violence, begins on November 25 (International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women) and December 10 (Human Rights Day). Equality Bahamas is hosting its annual series of events during the campaign, and the full lineup is available at Lu.ma/16days25.

Events include a discussion about memory and reparations with The Bahamas National Reparations Committee Chair Niambi Hall Campbell-Dean on November 26 at 6pm, the screening of “Two Faced: Gender Inequality in The Bahamas” at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas on November 27 at 6pm, and an erasure poetry workshop with Sonia Farmer at Poinciana Paper Press on Parkgate Road on December 6 at 9:30am. All events are free and open to the public.

Published in The Tribune on November 19, 2025.

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A liveable wage – essential, but still a pipe dream?

HERE have been several news stories on the cost of living in The Bahamas, the inadequacy of minimum wage, and the clear need for a living wage. These have sparked conversations that have not been sustained. Regardless, these conversations are often met with cries of impossibility from the private sector—rooted in fear and greed—and vague commentary from government about the need for change—rooted in personal comfort divergent interests.

Most people are working as much as they can already, often juggling more than one job to make ends meet, while people in positions of power decide that the wellbeing of the people is the least important element when there an inequitable economic system to maintain.

“When we call, as employees, for more money,” Minister of Labor and Public Service Pia Glover-Rolle said this week, “we must call for more productivity as well. I’m sure as business owners we can say we don’t mind rewarding with better benefits and better compensation packages when we see more productivity. So, we think that as a government, while we’re working to bring employee salaries and compensation to a good place and liveable place, we should also have the expectation that productivity is improved.”

This comment should be disturbing to anyone who understands the purpose of the liveable wage and the burden of labour and insufficient income on employees in the name of profit and financial gain for the owners of capital. To make an increase in productivity a requirement for a liveable wage is to ignore the reason it exists and its necessity in The Bahamas. No one should work full time and be unable to meet their basic needs with the income from that job. Businesses and the government may have productivity issues to address, but they are not relevant to the discussion on paying employees a wage that enables them to cover the cost of housing, food, water, transportation, and other necessities. Particularly as public services deteriorate further and force people to pay for education, healthcare, and other critical services that ought to be publicly funded and/or subsidized.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) defines a liveable wage as “the wage level that is necessary to afford a decent standard of living for workers and their families, taking into account the country circumstances and calculated for the work performed during the normal hours of work.”

Similarly, the Global Living Wage Coalition defines a living wage as “remuneration received for a standard work week by a worker in a particular [time and] place sufficient to afford a decent standard of living, including food, water, housing, education, healthcare, transport, clothing and other essential needs, including provision for unexpected events.”

The liveable, or living wage, is not a prize or a bonus. It is not a shiny bauble to dangle in front of people, trying to convince them to work more or work faster. It is a standard. It is a recognition that people work to get money that they then use to pay bills and acquire the items that not only sustain their lives, but that make it possible for them to continue to work. It is the bare minimum.

When people are not able to sustain their households with income from their full-time jobs, they have to find other sources of income. It is self-defeating to demand more work of employees than a 40-hour work week, because doing so contributes to the conditions that force them to take on additional paid work. And this reduces the time available for rest, which affects productivity.

“A Living Wage for The Bahamas: Estimates, Potentials, and Problems”, published in the International Journal of Bahamian Studies in 2021, captured the attention of Bahamians with its estimate that a basic decent standard of living for two adults and two children in a household requires $4400 per month in New Providence and $5750 per month in Grand Bahama.

“With statutory deductions included, our gross living wage estimate is $2625 for New Providence and $3550 for Grand Bahama,” the report said.

“Our New Providence living wage estimate is nearly 200% and 100% higher than the country’s national minimum wage and poverty line, respectively. These indicators not only confirm that the minimum wage rate does not ensure workers live above the poverty line but also suggests that much needs to be done to ensure that everyone who works can live decently.”

Three years later, in “How Much Does It Cost to Be Middle Class in The Bahamas?” author Lesvie Archer determined that a family of four needed a monthly income of $10,200 in New Providence, and $10,100 in Grand Bahama. The report also updated the cost of living for a working-class family of four, stating that “the 2024 cost-of-living estimate for a working-class family of four is $5,000 per month in New Providence and $6,600 per month in Grand Bahama.”

In November 2024, Prime Minister Philip Davis issued his response to the cost-of-living report. “From the outset, we raised the national minimum wage, provided public sector employees with much-needed promotions and pay adjustments, and reduced the duties on a number of imported items by Bahamian families. These changes are part of a phased approach to improve wages across the board, helping Bahamians earn a fair, liveable income.”

Raising the minimum wage did not solve the problem. It is still not a liveable wage. It is not enough to meet a person’s basic needs in The Bahamas. Promotions and pay adjustments are little more than campaign material, appearing to be something on the surface, but that have little effect on the systemic issues such as poverty.

“The challenges we face are complex and require bold action,” the prime minister said. “And we know that structural change takes time. But this government is committed to a fairer, more competitive economy that works for every Bahamian.”

In May 2025, Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers’ Confederation (BCCE) labour division head, Peter Goudie, added his own thoughts on the matter.

“There is no appetite for [a living wage] at the moment. We haven’t done a study, so we really don’t know what it’s going to look like. And then you’ve got to worry about how you implement higher wages when business costs are still very high. There are a bunch of issues there.”

There is a clear misunderstanding–or clear action to produce misunderstanding–of the liveable wage, its necessity, and the role of people in positions of power to make it reality. People will sleep in cars with their children. They will leave their children with people they barely know to work a second or third job. They will eat cheap, unhealthy food and suffer health consequences. They will launch fundraisers to cover the cost of surgical procedures and participate in illegal activities just to get more money.

They experience mental health crises and often struggle to leave violent households. Very few of them ever make the news. But they listen to third-party commentary on the stories of the people who do. Suffering goes on with varying degrees of visibility. And there are financial and social costs to The Bahamas and to the people of The Bahamas.

These are the consequences of a system that government officials and business owners want us to believe is a good system that works and requires us only to “work hard.” It is easier to tell us that we simply do not work enough to earn the money it takes to have a decent life here.

It is more beneficial to them to convince us that our suffering is due to our own shortcomings, not due to the design of the systems that keep us down while we try to find ways to make them work for us. There will be no consensus from people focused on maximizing profit to pay a liveable wage.

It must be imposed.

A government administration must connect the everyday problems we see and complain about to everyday systemic issues.

It must see the issue as one worth solving, and it must champion the people. It must want to see every employee have a decent standard of living.

It must want that more than it wants to exploit us by seeing our needs and refusing to meet them, while offering temporary, ineffective increments in exchange for votes.

Published in The Tribune on November 12, 2025.

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Femicide in The Bahamas

THIRTY-YEAR-OLD Lauren Saunders, who was seven months pregnant, was reported missing last week, and her body was found in a bushy area days later. On Monday, a man known to her was charged with her murder. Her murder is a case of femicide—the killing of a woman or girl that is related to her sex or gender. In fact, it is a case of pregnancy-associated femicide.

As the government of The Bahamas continues to refuse to acknowledge the sex- and gender-based killings of women and girls as femicide, it is difficult to count these incidents, analyse them, and develop prevention and intervention mechanism.

It means, for example, that are not able to definitively state the rate of femicide in The Bahamas, the rate of pregnancy-associated femicide, or the rate of femicide by perpetrators known to the victims. The government prefers to pretend that it does not understand the term “femicide” and/or to refuse to use it, obscuring the severity of gender-based violence against women and girls and the rate at which it results in people being killed.

In the 2022 United Nations statistical framework for measuring femicide, ten indicators of femicide are identified. They include women and girls killed by intimate partners, women and girls killed by family members, previous record of harassment/violence, body disposed of in public space, sexual violence was committed before, and hate crime motivated by bias against women/girls.

There are specific laws, recording methods, and analytical tools in use that can be adapted to the Bahamian context, enabling us to create and share knowledge about femicide, and use that knowledge to end sex- and gender-based killings.

The passing of the Gender-Based Violence Bill would have at least moved us toward improved quantitative records and analysis of the murder cases resulting from gender-based violence.

Instead, the current administration tossed it aside, instead passing a the useless “Protection Against Violence” bill that does attend to the issue of gender-based violence and the resulting murders.

Along with abandoning the bill to amend the Sexual Offenses Act to criminalise marital rape, this is a clear indication of the complete disregard this administration—and every single person in Parliament—has for women and girls, regardless of their empty words.

This week, as with every other week with a report of femicide, there is significant attention to penalties. People continue to look to the judicial system for justice.

What number of years can the murderer spend in prison, funded by taxpayers, to undo the murder of 30-year-old Lauren? How many years would be sufficient to bandage the hearts that bleed for the unborn baby?

The truth is that the very few members of the public with no relation to Lauren Saunders will think of this case until there are reports of the voluntary bill of indictment being served in January 2026.

Shortly after the case updates appear in the news, the case will be forgotten again. For loved ones, however, it will never be far from thought. No prison sentence is enough.

Lauren Saunders, like so many others whose names have been forgotten, was murdered, and that cannot be undone.

Justice is not punishment. Punishment may be a component of justice, but it is does not right a wrong, it does not bring balance, and it does not result in equity. Punishment is a consequence of an action. Justice that centers the survivor brings the survivor as close to the life they had before the act as is possible.

In the case of femicide, living dependents can be considered survivors. This means the children of Lauren Saunders should not suffer the effects of the loss of her income. They should maintain the same quality of life as they would have if she was not murdered and could continue to work, received her salary and/or wages, and meet household needs. Justice is often viewed as individual, intended for one person, but our concept of justice must be expanded.

As a collective, we can consider justice to include action by the government to prevent femicide by addressing the issue of gender-based violence, acknowledging that it can be fatal.

With research showing that one in every four women in The Bahamas has experienced physical and/ or sexual violence and 65% of survivors of physical violence reporting that it was severe (eg they were punched, hit with an object, dragged, choked, burned, or threatened with a weapon), there is no denying that this is a high-risk environment and gender-based violence is a public health crisis.

The government is obligated to take action to address gender-based violence which will not simply cease to exist. In 2018, following its report and constructive dialogue on its progress, or lack thereof, in coming into compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the government of The Bahamas received the recommendation to “develop and implement comprehensive measures for the prevention and elimination of gender-based violence against women and girls, in particular domestic and sexual violence and rape, assess the reported incidence of crimes against lesbian, bisexual and transgender women and intersex persons and intensify efforts to change the social norms and cultural perceptions through which gender-based violence is tolerated as culturally acceptable”.

The CEDAW Committee also recommended that the government of The Bahamas develop an action plan to eliminate gender stereotypes, pass the Gender-Based Violence Bill and implement the Strategic Plan to Address Gender-Based Violence, and to ensure police and courts address complaints of gender-based violence quickly and efficiently. The government knows its obligations under international human rights law, and its responsibility to people in The Bahamas, to uphold all human rights. It fails to take action.

ABANDONED NEWBORN

A newborn, umbilical cord still attached, was found earlier this week, and a news outlet polled its social media audience on the introduction of “safe haven” or “baby box” laws, allowing people to safely surrender babies without facing criminal charges. This led to an array of comments expressing opinions on sexual and reproductive health and rights and the (un)availability of services.

“Ok so let me get this right: a law to say that after a responsible adult female has sex and finds out she got pregnant, she can carry her child nine months, deliver it somewhere, then put it in a box on a strangers doorstep. Then repeat this procedure the following years to come. My my…”

This person has already made an assumption that the person who birthed the baby is an adult and that the pregnancy is the result of consensual sexual intercourse. Even a cursory review of the news on a weekly basis would provide enough information to let anyone know that there is a high rate of rape in The Bahamas, and that teenaged girls are preyed upon by men who know that they are children and that the legal age of consent is 16. This person also seems to believe that pregnancy and motherhood are punishments for sexual activity. Is this the way we want people to become parents? Is there any thought to the way that many people parent when they forced into it?

“Could also just stop [having sex].”

Sex has more than one purpose. Some people have sex to conceive. Many people have sex to experience pleasure. Pleasure is good. By encouraging people to enjoy sex, and letting them know that it should absolutely be a pleasurable experience, we also encourage them to exercise consent, to recognise unsafe sexual relationships, and to value their experience at least as much as the other person’s.

“If The Bahamas adapt that law, the no good uncaring women will be dropping babies like flies and mosquitoes. They want to open their legs so let them be responsible.”

This person seems to think pregnancy and childbirth are fun. They also have a clear hatred of women. Enjoying sexual activity is not a commitment to have a baby. There is no good to come from forcing people to carry unwanted pregnancies to term and forcing them to parents babies they did not plan or want. Pregnancy is not a punishment for having sex. Babies are not a punishment for having sex. We need comprehensive sexuality education in all schools, access to contraceptives from the age of consent, and to end sexual violence.

“Adoption should always be an option. Give two babies up for adoption and we tie them tubes up.”

While some people may choose adoption, abortion must be legal and accessible. No one should be forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term. It is reprehensible to suggest a medical procedure such as tubal ligation without the consent of the person. A person who does not have to have a baby today may want to have a baby in two, five, or ten years. Everyone has the right to plan for their families and, as an extension of the right, everyone needs access to the resources to do so.

There were a number of comments that acknowledged the rights of women and girls and the realities of gender-based violence and the limited access to information about sexual and reproductive health education and services in The Bahamas. People mentioned the importance of Plan B being accessible to people who cannot afford to buy it, the need for comprehensive sexuality education that extends beyond one class, access to health care without a parent/guardian at the age of consent, and decriminalizing abortion.

As one commenter said, “Until our society stops shaming and ostracising women who become pregnant out of wedlock and [stops] treating CHILDREN who are raped who end up pregnant like they are lepers, none of this matters. Until we start holding the men who rape and impregnate CHILDREN [accountable], none of it matters. Until we give girls and women who become pregnant the ability to make safe choices without condemnation and humiliation and fear of lack, they will continue to make unsafe choices including not putting a baby in a […] box, on an island where NOTHING is sacred or secret.”

Published in The Tribune on October 29, 2025.

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Who will defend our ‘Zone of Peace’?

We’re living through a time of significant change in economies and global politics. While we’re heavily impacted by current events and trends at the global level, it’s imperative that we participate in regional mechanisms and establish shared positions on pressing and emerging issues. Diplomatic relations between the US and Caribbean countries, for example, have never been as simple as we might like to believe, and may quickly become more complex.

The Bahamas puts significant effort into maintaining an amicable relationship with the US for various reasons, including continued economic reliance on the tourism industry. Maintenance of the tourism industry is, of course, a primary area of concern for other Caribbean countries as well, which don’t have the same proximity or level of reliance as we do. It’s difficult to balance sovereignty and both national and regional priorities with the global and western systems that demand our participation. While it’s challenging for a country to stand on its own, it can be advantageous to form blocs and to leverage regional organizations such as CARICOM.

When our governments fail to represent us, our values, and our positions in these spaces, however, it becomes especially necessary for the people to stand together.

Trinidad chooses sides

In August 2025, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, pledged full support to the US government in its deployment of military assets to the Caribbean, including the positioning of three warships off the coast of Venezuela in the supposed attempt to stop drug trafficking.

“I want to make it very clear that if the Maduro regime launches any attack against the Guyanese people or invades Guyanese territory and a request is made by the American Government for access to Trinidadian territory to defend the people of Guyana, my Government will unflinchingly provide them that access,” Persad-Bissessar said in reference to the possibility of aggression action by Venezuela to Guyana over Essequibo, a disputed territory.

Unflinching in her disinterest in aligning with a CARICOM position, she doubled down on her stated position. “The Government of Trinidad and Tobago has not engaged and has no intention of engaging CARICOM this matter. Each member state can speak for themselves on this issue.”

Following the US strike on a boat that killed 11 people early in September 2025, Persad-Bissessar said she was “happy that the US naval deployment is having success in their mission” and that “the US military should kill [traffickers] all violently.” The US Secretary of State claimed that the boat had departed Venezuela and was likely headed to Trinidad or another country in the Caribbean.

Many over the past few weeks have expressed concern about the callous statement, which ignores the absence of due process in the killing. When questioned about another military air strike on a boat that killed six people, including two citizens of Trinidad and Tobago, Persad-Bissessar reiterated her position. “I stand by my previous comments,” she said. “Nothing has occurred to cause any change in my opinion.”

Venezuela Ambassador to the United Nations, Samuel Moncada, called on the United Nations to investigate what he called the “assassinations,” with a total of 27 reported deaths from US strikes in the Caribbean so far. He noted that the killings are unjustified and that the US is trying to start a war. “There is a killer prowling the Caribbean,” he said. “People from different countries are suffering the effects of these massacres.”

In an open letter to Persad-Bissessar, Ambassador General of the Global African Congress, Cikiah Thomas, called the Prime Minister’s statements in defense of the current US administration reckless, disgraceful, and shameless. “[It echoes] the tone of colonial subservience that our ancestors fought to cast off in our long struggles to achieve independence over our national and regional affairs,” he said.

“By excusing the extrajudicial killings, and dismissing the US’ violation of international law, you have aligned yourself with Donald Trump and US imperialism and against your sovereign people. But you have also aligned yourself with the same imperial ideology that once enslaved our people and plundered our lands.”

Grenada to decide

Recently, Grenada’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Export Development confirmed that the US had also made a request to temporarily install radar equipment and technical personnel at their Maurice Bishop International Airport.

The Government of Grenada is reviewing and assessing the request. However, it made clear to the public what considerations will be examined. “[Our decision] will be guided by Grenada’s sovereignty, public safety, and national interest, including the protection of our tourism industry, the travelling public, and the country’s economic well-being.”

Concerned by this request, particularly given recent events, a network of Caribbean feminists responded in October with an open letter opposing incursions by the US military.

“We, Caribbean advocates for equality, security and development within and between states, note with grave concern the recent incursions by the US military in the Caribbean Sea. This signifies an egregious breach of international law and has resulted in the extrajudicial killing of at least 27 people to date – two of whom are nationals of Trinidad and Tobago.

“These incursions threaten the Caribbean tourism industry by jeopardising the safety of cruise ships and sailboats. They interfere with the livelihood of fishermen and all those who depend on the sea to feed their families. They also violate laws protecting our regional waters and the people who depend on them. They contravene the commitment of our region by our leaders, past and present, and our citizens to establish our region as a zone of peace,” the statement said.

“The US has long wielded disproportionate power over the small island states of the Caribbean and its peoples. We call on our governments to strengthen our sovereignty, defend our right to peace, the livelihoods of our peoples, and our right to be safe from the consequences of militarization. We urge the Grenadian government and people of Grenada to stand firm and refuse the US request to extend its military capacity by installing radar and technical personnel in Grenada. We call on CARICOM to support Grenada’s refusal of this request, and to stand up for our independence, knowing, as we do, that this may result in real costs at the hands of the US.”

The Caribbean Congress of Labor also issued a statement on the preservation of the Caribbean as a zone of peace. “The CCL expresses deep concern over any use or intended use of the Grenada Airport by the United States military or any foreign power for military operations or activities contrary  to the peaceful principles of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Such activities not only violate the spirit of regional cooperation but also endanger the peace, sedulity, and sovereignty of the Caribbean people.”

And CARICOM?

In an incredibly lackluster, empty statement, CARICOM referenced a recent meeting that addressed a number of issues, including this increased militarization in the Caribbean. “Save in respect of Trinidad and Tobago, who reserved its position, Heads agreed on the following: They reaffirmed the principle of maintaining the Caribbean Region as a Zone of Peace and the importance of dialogue and engagement towards the peaceful resolution of disputes and conflict.”

It appears that CARICOM has taken no position on foreign military occupying Caribbean territory, using force, and operating without intelligence or assurance of due process. The phrase “Zone of Peace” is rendered meaningless when there is a discussion on security matters that does not directly respond to the events of the past few weeks and the current and potential impact on Caribbean people. There will certainly be more statements and further action from Caribbean citizens, residents, non-governmental organizations, civic groups, and individuals.

Unfortunately, the Government of The Bahamas is not one we can look to for leadership on this issue. Minister of National Security Wayne Monroe merely advised Bahamians to “stay out of [the US military’s] way.”

“If they were to choose to sail in your harbour, there’s nothing you could do,” he said. “It would be a breach of your sovereignty, and you could complain, but you couldn’t stop them.”

Isn’t that really all we need to know when it comes to our own security and the commitment of the Government of The Bahamas to upholding human rights and maintaining our precious sovereignty?

The Zone of Peace is severely lacking in defenders.

Published in The Tribune on October 22, 2025.

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The refusal of shame

Last week, a series of events were held in New Providence for PRIDE. PRIDE is rooted in the history of the LGBTQI+ movement and, more specifically, the Stonewall Riots that took place in New York in June 1969. This is the reason that many LGBTQI+ communities all over the world have PRIDE during the month of June. PRIDE is the commemoration of the riots and the resulting advancement of rights in the US and beyond. Equally important, it is an opportunity to bring community members together and to advocate for further advancement the human rights of LGBTQI+ people. Human rights are inherent, indivisible, and interdependent, and full enjoyment of any rights relies on access to all rights.

PRIDE is not a time of grandstanding, however it may appear to people outside of the community. It is a direct response to the expectation that LGBTQI+ people be invisible and quiet, performing shame for the benefit of people who are uncomfortable with and hateful of people who have different identities and do not conform to their limited understanding of human life.

As actress Laverne Cox said, “In 1969, there was really no such thing as being ‘out’. Gay and lesbian people were deeply stigmatised. Of course, it was illegal to be who you were. There weren’t a lot of places where LGBTQI+ people could gather. So, everything was underground.”

Pushing LGBTQI+ people to the margins did not prevent people from being LGBTQI+. Sexuality is not a choice, so gay men continued to be gay men, lesbian women continued to be lesbian women, trans people continued to be trans people, and so on. Being criminalised meant it was or felt safer to be less visible. As all human beings need social engagement, it became necessary to create spaces that were safer for LGBTQI+ to inhabit. People negotiated space, made it available in limited ways, and made deals to keep them open to the intended market.

Cofounder of the Gay Liberation Front Jim Fouratt—who was walking up Christopher Street when he saw a police car outside the Stonewall Inn and 30 to 40 people in the street at the start of the Stonewall Riots—said: “Wherever there was a gay bar that existed, the cops were paid off.”

It is not much different from what we see today. It was not long ago that “web shops” operated in The Bahamas, everyone fully aware that they were places for Bahamians to illegally gamble. Everyone was fully aware that authorities were being paid off. Raids happened, but not much else. Soon enough, against the results of the “opinion poll”, the law was changed and we now have a different reality. Some people are still upset about the legal change, some people who opposed the change now participate, openly or secretly, in gambling. Some people could not be more happy that they can buy numbers and spin from home. For some, the issue of gaming, the “opinion poll”, and the change to the law will always be the first example they reach for when they consider whether or not the government is trustworthy.

You may be against gambling, but you have to recognise that it is not against the law in certain circumstances. You may believe gambling is against your religion, but that has no bearing on what others choose to do, or even what is in the law. You may be against the diversity in sexuality, but you have to recognise that it is not against the law to be an LGBTQI+ person. You may believe being LGBTQI+ is against your religion, but that has no bearing on the existence of LGBTQI+ people or entitlements through the law. No one has to live by your religion. No one has to have the same sexual interests as you do. You can concern yourself with your own sexuality and sexual activity, and it that is too boring, talk with your sexual partner about safe, consensual ways to change that.

PRIDE exists today in response to the fear and secrecy that shaped the environment for LGBTQI+ people who tried to balance living their lives in authentic ways with surviving in a place rife with hatred for people who are othered and a very specific hatred for and violence against LGBTQI+ people. The social and legal changes, as small as they have been in comparison to what is needed, have made it possible, to varying extents in different countries, for LGBTQI+ people to simply exist. In a sex-negative society, it is, of course, difficult for (sexually repressed) people to see and accept the sexual freedom of consenting adults, and this may be a source of jealousy. This discomfort and jealousy can lead those experiencing it to focus on LGBTQI+ people rather than investing in education, therapy, and practices that can foster a positive relationship to sex and sexuality. This may be a driver of the misconception of PRIDE as an in-your-face stick-it-to-the-heterosexuals affair. LGBTQI+ people, however, do not center non-LGBTQI+ people in LGBTQI+ events.

Many, perhaps intentionally, misunderstand PRIDE. While LGBTQI+ people are justified in having positive self-regard and security in identity, PRIDE is a shaking off and refusal of shame. It is a shame that was imposed by people who harbour hatred and seek to oppress people whose identities and lives are different from and have no effect on theirs. It is a reclaiming of space, a building of community, a refusal to hide, and a decision to take up space.

There are marches for various causes held at various times of the year and at the onset of events. These are largely unchallenged. It is generally understood that people can organise themselves, carry signs, chant phrases, make demands, and draw attention to themselves and their interests. In most cases, these marches and protests take place without opposition. When it comes to PRIDE, however, people choose to be loud in their opposition in order to gain a spotlight, often in the name of a god they may not even truly know.

On Saturday, a group of people showed up at the PRIDE march in New Providence, claiming that they were doing so for god. Drawing more attention to the event, they imagined themselves to be protesting PRIDE, having no understanding of what PRIDE is or why it exists in The Bahamas. A person in this confused group said, “The months belong to God,” in a weak attempt to put LGBTQI+ people in opposition to god—the same god who presumably made them.

October is Mental Health Awareness Month. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. October is known for the Food and Wine Festival by Bahamas National Trust. It is known for “Food Fest”. November is known for Jollification. It is Lung Cancer Awareness Month. It is Movember. December is known for the holiday season, including Christmas, which is, itself, often quite separate from god and religion. There is generally no opposition to issues being attached to months. It is understood by the reasonable among us that it is useful to mark a particular time of year with an issue, cause, or observation to raise awareness, share information, and engage people for a distinct period, repeating it year after year. Suddenly, in October, when a PRIDE march is taking place, all of the months “belong to God”.

There are other ways to seek relevance. There are far better ways to represent the Christian god. The fruit of the spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control – could be a great place to start, within oneself before anywhere else. How might a deep, unconditional love for oneself unlock love for neighbours Christians are called to love as they love themselves? How might this prevent judgment of others and distraction from one’s own areas for improvement? How might access joy change the way one approaches life and where attention goes? How might the pursuit for peace turn one away from activities that lead to confusion, discrimination, and violence? How might the way we treat one another and share this earthly place change for the better if everyone lived according to the principles of their own religions rather than focusing on the (mis)alignment of others? If only the right-thinking Christians would be as loud and visible as those fuelled by hatred and the desire to control others.

Published in The Tribune on October 15, 2025.

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Respectability politics in Bahamian schools

In The Bahamas, the commitment to and practice of respectability politics continues to outweigh common sense, human decency, and care for one another. It shows up in so many spaces and has been accepted as “normal” and “proper” for so long that it is rarely questioned, even when it causes obvious harm.

Respectability politics, at one time, was a survival tactic. People in situations of vulnerability, who were marginalised, and who were at risk of violence and discrimination did all they could to blend in by conforming to mainstream “standards” that were, ultimately, those set by white and wealthy people. Black people tried to match their appearance and behaviour with that of white people in the attempt to either go unnoticed or be seen as exceptional, thereby escaping, to some extent, discrimination.

Racism is still rampant today. Classism is still a part of our reality. The survival tactics of one generation are passed down and imposed upon the next. It can be difficult to see the historical context of our practices when they are not discussed, but carried out as a matter of duty, fulfilling expectations, and become norms. For this reason, respectability politics can, in its current practice, appear to be about morals or manners rather than a tactic that was useful (to a limited extent) and is now counterproductive, harmful, and anti-black.

It was not long ago that black women who kept their hair natural, meaning it was not chemically straightened, were strongly discouraged, told that it was unprofessional. People insisted that it did not look neat when, really, it simply was not straight and did not have the properties of straight hair. At a certain point, it was fine to have natural hair if it could be made to look like it was not. This was not about neatness. It was racism. It was the oppression that accompanies the idea that blackness is shameful and that black people aspire to be as close to whiteness as possible. We have seen and heard new stories about people being dismissed from work and school for having afros or locs. Those days, evidently, are not over.

“They came to school looking like hoodlums,” a social media post by RM Bailey said. The school, dissatisfied with their length of hair, decided to take a set of boys to a barber for haircuts. They declared them “beautiful” after the haircuts were provided. The school, mandated to provide education to all enrolled children, removed these children from their classes, took and posted photographs of them, likely without the consent of their parents/guardians, and made a disgusting, disparaging comment about them.

“Hoodlum” is a term that refers to a violent criminal. This is a completely inappropriate term to use to describe any child, especially based on the length of the hair or style of their haircuts. Removing the post is not enough. The boys are owed an apology, both for denigration in the social media post and the violation of their bodily autonomy. RM Bailey, unfortunately, is not alone in this anti-Black racism that has been internalised and unleashed on children in the form of certain rules and they ways they are enforced.

CC Sweeting reportedly kept out of classes when their haircuts were deemed unacceptable. The involved adults, and likely all administrators and educators, need specialised training to give them culturally relevant information on anti-black racism, stereotyping, implicit bias, and microaggressions and support them in developing appropriate rules, regulations, and application principles.

Schools have rules and regulations. Of course. Schools have uniforms. Yes. Schools attempt to set a standard through their rules and regulations. This does not mean the rules and regulations should remain as they have been for years, and it does not mean they are being applied and enforced in appropriate ways, particularly for the education, growth, and full development of this generation.

White boys are not made to keep their hair as short as black boys. For this, there is no reason. There is a root, and it is anti-black racism. It is due to the normalisation and continuation of respectability politics that people continue to practice. From the chemical straightening of black hair and the amount of gel used to manipulate the texture and volume of black hair to achieve a ponytail that looks slick and flat from the front, these practices can be stylistic and personal choices, yet should be considered by those who engage in them. These practices absolutely should not be expected or required of anyone.

Recently, there was lively conversation about a social media post by a business that is refusing service to people wearing bonnets. It is reasonable that a person may wear a bonnet, whether protect their hair, to preserve a hairstyle, to cover hair that is not styled to their liking, or as an accessory one simply likes. It does not need to suit anyone else. No one else needs to applaud the act. It is okay to dislike someone else’s appearance. It is not okay, however, to police the bodies of other people.

It is one thing for a business to refuse service to customers and forgo the related revenue from them and the people who decide not to spend money there as a matter of principle, and it is an entirely different thing to deny or interrupt the education of a child. It is especially egregious just weeks after the handwringing over the national examination results. It is especially foolish when there are children who do not make it to school every day for various reasons, and educators complain about the absences. It is especially irresponsible when so many express concern about boys, fearing that they are or will be “lost”.

We have to be clear about what is important to us and why. Do we want the children in this country to have access to education? Do we want them to have positive experiences at school? Do we want them to fear and be insulted by teachers and administrators, or do we want them be respected and to have respect for others? Do we want them to hate themselves and feel inferior to others, or do we want them to understand their history, know that racism still exists today, and learn to embrace their blackness?

It may be easier to teach children to conform, especially for the adults who only ever conform. It is more difficult to respect children, to allow them them to have opinions, to welcome their questions, to encourage their development of personal style, and to see and treat them as whole human beings.

It is easy to dominate children and control them with fear. It is more difficult to develop relationships with them, have conversations with them, develop codes of conduct in collaboration with them, and ensure that they feel and are safe with you, and can even express a difference of opinion or offer proposals for change.

If schools—the places children spend most of their waking hours—are not environments for children to develop, grow, and learn navigate the world with dignity and respect, how do we expect them to become adults who can effectively communicate, resolve conflict, and contribute to the creation of a better world?

The Ministry of Education and Technical and Vocational Training needs to understand that its mission must extend beyond the provision of curricula and administration of exams. It is also responsible for creating environments for children to know and love themselves, to develop care and empathy for the people around them, and to navigate complex situations with dignity and respect for themselves and others.

Published in The Tribune on September 17, 2025

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Misogyny in politics holds women back

While Leslie Miller’s misogynistic, infantilising reference to Senator Michela Barnett-Ellis is not at all surprising, given his many public episodes, it has drawn attention to the longstanding issue of discrimination against women in political and public life.

The idea that women are inferior and must be relegated to the private sphere and men are superior and entitled to the public sphere persists well beyond the time that one income was sufficient and (some) women’s only work was in the home and in service to the family (which was never the case for black women).

That patriarchal arrangement was in service to capitalism, even more than it was for men, as women made (and still make) it possible for men to work through the provision of various unpaid services including the maintenance of the home and the people living in it and the reproduction of labourers.

Patriarchy created a hierarchy and it has required us to live according to this division, even after the point that women entered the public sphere and, as a matter of necessity, started to work for wages. Patriarchy assigned values and expectations based on gender and while the economic realities have changed and society along with it, patriarchy has its devotees.

Just as patriarchy separated women and men into the private and public spheres, it instilled the belief that men are to be leaders and decision-makers while women are to follow and submit.

Misogyny extends beyond the hatred of women to the hatred of all that is feminine. As emotions are viewed in a binary way, considered feminine or masculine, certain emotions are reserved for women and restricted for men.

On the basis of these socially constructed rules, it was determined that women are too “soft” and “emotional” for leadership, even as men regularly perform anger to the detriment of the people expected to follow them.

Women have worked, for generations, to gain access to opportunities to work and to lead through consistent efforts including, but not limited to, higher education. Today, men regularly attempt to use the level of education many women have attained, and subsequent professional success, as evidence that gender inequality does not exist.

They refuse to see the persisting issues including sexual harassment in the workplace, the gender wage gap, and the impediments to participating in frontline politics and public life.

Miller’s misogynistic comment is evidence of the discrimination that still exists and is not only an annoyance, but a barrier to equal participation and, ultimately, the representation of women in leadership at the level that is proportionate to the population. It also highlights the issue of intersecting forms of discrimination that women face.

A women vying for candidacy or for a seat in Parliament are not only unfairly judged rather than appropriately assessed because of their gender, but because of their (perceived) age, class, and other identities. Women are expected to be deferential and young people are expected to be deferential. Young women are expected to be doubly deferential should they even dare to be in the same space as men.

It is an embarrassment that only 18 percent of parliamentarians are women. No government administration has ever addressed this issue by instituting a political quota. Perhaps even worse, no political party has chosen to take the lead in addressing this issue, demonstrating commitment to achieving gender equality by instituting a quota at the party level.

This is clear evidence of the priorities and the cowardice of political parties. Temporary special measures such as political quotas have been recommended to The Bahamas on numerous occasions through international human rights mechanisms in which The Bahamas voluntarily participates.

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in Article 3, obligates States to “ensure the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all civil and political rights set forth in the present Covenant.”.

Importantly, Article 25 states, “Every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity[…] to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives [and] to vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot, guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the electors.”

Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women (Convention of Belem Do Para) states in Article 4 that “Every woman has the right to the recognition, enjoyment, exercise and protection of all human rights and freedoms embodied in regional and international human rights instruments. These rights include, among others[…] The right to have equal access to the public service of her country and to take part in the conduct of public affairs, including decision-making”.

It continues, in Article 5, “Every woman is entitled to the free and full exercise of her civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, and may rely on the full protection of those rights as embodied in regional and international instruments on human rights. The States Parties recognise that violence against women prevents and nullifies the exercise of these rights.”

The Sustainable Development Goals were adopted in 2015, and goal five on gender equality includes “ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life” as a target. The indicators are the proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments and local government and the proportion of women in managerial positions.

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), also known as the bill of women’s rights, was ratified by The Bahamas in 1993—acknowledgement discrimination against women as a violation of women’s human rights and a commitment to take the necessary steps to come into compliance with the Convention in order to end discrimination against women.

Article 7 of the Convention calls on States to “take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the political and public life of the country and, in particular, shall ensure to women, on equal terms with men, the right[…] to be eligible for election to all publicly elected bodies [and] to participate in the formulation of government policy and the implementation thereof and to hold public office and perform all public functions at all levels of government.”

As CEDAW was adopted in 1979 and entered into force in 1981, there issues that have emerged and knowledge that has since been created that are not explicitly stated in the Convention. To ensure that it can carry out its mandate and respond to the realities on the ground with its collective human rights expertise, the CEDAW Committee produces General Recommendations which expand upon Articles of the Convention, address areas of concern, and guide States in their reporting.

There are General Recommendations, for example, on violence against women, older women and protection of their human rights, rights of rural women, and gender-related dimensions of disaster risk reduction in the context of climate change. In 2024, the CEDAW Committee produced General Recommendation 40 on equal and inclusive representation of women in decision-making systems. It begins, “Women have the right to equal and inclusive representation in all decision-making systems on equal terms with men[…] This right is still not respected. This also seriously hampers implementation of all other rights under the CEDAW Convention.”

General Recommendation 40 was produced as a comprehensive guide for States “on achieving equal and inclusive representation of women in all decision-making systems across all sectors, aiming for a systemic change”.

It recognises seven pillars of equal and inclusive representation of women in decision-making systems, recognising “patriarchal structures impede women’s equal and inclusive representation in decision-making systems” and the need for a transformational approach that dismantles those structures. The pillars are:

1. 50:50 parity between women and men as a starting point and universal norm;

2. Effective youth leadership conditioned by parity;

3. Intersectionality and inclusion of women in all their diversity in decision-making systems;

4. A comprehensive approach to decision-making systems across spheres;

5. Women’s equal power and influence in decision-making systems;

6. Structural transformation for equal and inclusive decision-making;

7. Civil society representation in decision-making systems.

General Recommendation 40 is available online. It described all seven pillars and not only sets on the obligations of States, but provides guidance for meeting the obligations. Its recommendations include legal amendments to institutionalize 50:50 parity between women and men in all spheres of decision-making, adoption of a parity strategy, provision of education on temporary and permanent special measures, implementation of awareness-raising campaigns toward positive discourse on parity, cooperation with media to condemn, monitor and ensure accountability for sexism and misogyny, and prevention and prosecution of hate speech in decision-making and against women candidates.

All candidates, representatives, leaders, and members of political parties should read the document and contribute to moving The Bahamas toward compliance through all means available to them.

Published in The Tribune on September 10, 2025

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We need new solutions for education’s problems

Here we are, once again, bemoaning the result of the Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) examinations. This newspaper reported that only 22.3 percent of students who took the exams in five or more subjects got a C or above in mathematics, English, and a science. The vast majority of students are not meeting the mark in the three subject areas considered to be of critical importance and central to the evaluation of their academic capabilities and, given requirements for jobs, career prospects.

Year after year, students are branded as academically inept and teachers are considered to be ineffective and uncaring. Neither of these, however, is necessarily the case. The practice of administering these examinations seems to have continued just for the sake of it rather than there being an indication of any value to the students, teachers, administrators, or the country.

If we truly viewed the BGCSE examinations and results as a tool that allows us to measure the academic success, or potential for success, of the graduating students in any particular year, we would actually have learnings that are actively reported and used to make the changes that have obviously been needed for many years.

For so many students to attain grades of D and lower can only mean that something is wrong with the education system. While it may be difficult, we have to face that fact that the stellar performance of some students is not evidence of an appropriate, functioning system. It is irresponsible, lazy, and insulting to take the position that students do not want to learn or that teachers do not care enough or put enough effort into teaching. There are other possibilities to consider, recognising that we can develop a different system, a different tool, and a different outcome.

1. The BGCSE examinations are flawed. It may be that the content of the exams does not match the material delivered in classrooms. It is possible that the time allotted in the exams are insufficient. It could even be that the way the exams are structured and the questions posed are unhelpful.

Perhaps it is unrealistic to expect teenagers to adequately prepare for examinations across many subject areas, especially while continuing to learn new material in their classes, much less participating in extracurricular activities and carrying household responsibilities and the everyday stresses of a period in life in which many changes occur. Maybe back-to-back exams in different subjects, day after day, is not an acceptable way to assess the learning of high school students.

2. The curriculum is being delivered in an ineffective way. Even if the material is reflected in the exams, it is possible that the delivery does not foster learning for the students in the classroom.

More and more, students need to experience the material they are expected to absorb and have the aptitude to apply. How many times do students ask why they need to learn algebra, or when they will ever use trigonometry in their lives, for example?

Educators need to show them the relevance of the material beyond their classes and the need to pass a test. How does a baker who designs and builds elaborate cakes determine the exact amount of icing needed to cover it, or the amount of weight a 10-inch round cake can bear? There also needs to be variation in teaching style and the ability and willingness to adapt to different learning styles.

Copying notes from the board may be useful for study at a later date, but completely useless for learning. Reading aloud from a textbook may be a good way to reinforce information, yet not the best way to introduce it. What if students were presented with a problem, or presented problems of their own, and were introduced to the information and tools needed to solve them?

3. Students are not sufficiently prepared for the examinations, and many students simply do not test well. Using old papers and taking mock exams can help set students’ expectations, but it does not necessarily help to them to develop a strategy for taking the exam.

Exam preparedness does not begin with studying. It begins with engagement in the classroom, note-taking, application, and revision. Students can benefit from assignments that deviate from the usual question-and-answer and written projects.

Application of learning across subjects and leverage students’ interests and adeptness in using technology can lead to students producing incredible material that not only demonstrates their learning, but deepens understanding of the material and can serve as learning tools for others.

What if students produced a ten-minute animated video about the digestive system, following the journey of a conch fritter through the body? What if students produced a 30-minute podcast about Animal Farm, comparing it to a popular television show?

Create an environment for students to explain class material to one another, and encourage application to their real world experiences and areas of interest. When they understand the material, there is room to prepare them for the testing environment, from managing the allotted time to assessing their best chances to gain points and knowing which sections they should work on first. Test-taking is a skill on its own, completely separate from mastery of material.

4. The format of the examinations needs to change in order to align with the ways students learn and use their knowledge. The results of the 2025 BGCSE examinations showed better performance in the practical subjects such as food and nutrition.

It is quite possible that students perform better when they can put their learning to work in practical ways, ending with a product beyond answers to set questions. In what ways, outside of essays and hours of equations, can we assess the learning of students and their understanding of the material? The time has come to be more creative in setting the curriculum, delivering the material, and assessing students. The ways of decades gone by are clearly not the ways that will work for us now.

Published in The Tribune on September 3, 2025.

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Statistics are only a shock because teenagers are being ignored

It seems to have shocked government officials and education administrators that 20 percent of teenagers have attempted suicide and 25 percent have considered suicide.

Teenagers who are struggling through the days of a high school that is not responding to their learning needs and hearing the national ridicule of them and their supposed inability to perform at the academic standards required. Teenagers who are responsible for their younger siblings and, in the absence of appropriate public services and support mechanisms, must take them to school, pick them up from school, prepare meals for them, and help them with their homework.

Teenagers who are preyed upon by adults, sexually assaulted, and blamed for the violence they experience. Teenagers who are forced to participate in crime lest they become victims of violent crime, then are characterised solely on their criminal affiliations and activities with no consideration of the the failure to prevent or intervene.

Teenagers who are bullied at school and either get no support from adults or never bother to report it because their first bullies were adults. Teenagers who are forced to work in order to meet the basic needs of their households, and are harassed, disrespected, and dehumanised at work, whether by employers, employees, or customers.

Teenagers who cannot participate in extracurricular activities because of cost barriers and/or the adult responsibilities they must shoulder. Teenagers who are harassed by people in positions of authority, including police, just because they are young and visible.

Teenagers who are experiencing changes in their bodies and their moods that they do not understand and for which they are punished. Teenagers who witness violence in their homes every day and live with the fear that they will one day return home and find a dead parent/guardian/sibling.

Teenagers who cannot identify a single adult they trust to listen to them and help them through a difficult situation. Teenagers who do not have access to mental health care and are, instead, told to pray, made to go to church, and/or sent to untrained or undertrained “counsellors” who cannot give them the support and tools they need to navigate the challenges they face.

Teenagers who struggle with addiction. Teenagers who are abused and told it is discipline. Teenagers who are beaten by adults who use them as punching bags on which they unleash their frustrations. Teenagers who carry the stress of “holding” illegal substances and weapons for people who have power over them. Teenagers whose homes are less safe than the street. Teenagers who can barely sleep at night. Teenagers who are keeping secrets no one should have to endure, much less refrain from ever speaking, preventing them from getting help. Teenagers who put their lives on the line in various ways that are ignored anyway.

The realities of young people are often ignored, sometimes discussed with complete detachment from the people involved, and almost never acknowledged — a requirement for appropriate intervention to take place.

Generalisations about young people are publicly made with little challenge. They are seen as unintelligent, troublesome, ungrateful, and even deserving of any misfortune that befalls them. They are well aware of the assumptions made about them, the accusations made against them, and the general sentiment toward them. Some of them even know that they are not all having the same experience, and that their race and class make a difference.

It is difficult for adults to understand themselves as having value and being worthy of love, care, and life itself. How much more difficult must it be for young people for whom even the shortest encounter is magnified and can feel devastatingly insurmountable?

Schools may now be focused only on academic development, but that is a missed opportunity and an injustice to the people — the children — it is meant to serve. School should not be a place for children to be spoon-fed information in order to regurgitate it while being molded into robots that do as they are told in order to be easily controlled when they enter the workforce. It should be a place for them to engage in learning, through the delivery of the curriculum and interactions with the people around them.

Children, including teenagers, need to connect with one another. They need to connect with their teachers. They need to learn to navigate relationships, to build trust, to identify unsafe situations, to work through disagreements, and to recognise the difference between what is normalized (and unsafe) and what is actually a normal situation or behavior.

Schools are a critical site for intervention. This is where irregularities should be most apparent. Teachers and administrators should notice the state of children’s clothing and hygiene. They should notice changes in patterns of attendance, behaviour in class, homework delivery, and testing. They should understand that the interest and effort of the child is not the only factor involved. Which children are sleepy? Which children are hungry or undernourished? Which children are showing signs of stress, anxiety, or depression? Signs that a child needs help can only really be investigated when there is a real relationship and trust exists so that the child can honestly answer questions.

Emotional intelligence needs to be a part of the curriculum, and it needs to be an area of focus in professional development for educators. All teachers and administrators need to be able to empathise with children. They need to be aware of their own beliefs and biases, and they need to know how to regulate their own emotions. They need to truly care about the children who are in their care, and help them to develop the skills to recognise their emotions and talk about them. They need to be trained in suicide intervention.

Children need to feel safe enough to share what is happening, especially when there is a chance that they will feel embarrassment or they fear that they will be punished for telling the truth (which may be framed to them as “private” or “family business”). Building this level of trust takes time and intention.

Children need to know that there is help available for them. If there is a free breakfast program, they should know where and when to go, and it should be easy to access. If there a mental health professional on staff, they need to know how to find them. They also need to be aware of the Department of Social Services and what can be accessed there. The assumption cannot be made that parents/guardians know or that they will initiate necessary processes.

Sometimes children are considering suicide because their lives seem untenable. Living does not seem worth it. It could be that they do not have the support they need. It could be that they think they are making life difficult for their parents/guardians. It could be that they are struggling to manage strong emotions. It could be that they need ongoing mental health support, without judgment. Life is not easy for all children. There are challenges they face, and many of them try to face them alone.

We need to ensure that the children in our lives know that they can safely talk to us and that we will help them through anything they are experiencing. Parents/guardians are not always able to provide all of the support that children need, and they may not notice that something is wrong. There are many reasons this could be the case, and there may be the desire to cast blame, but first, focus on the children. It is not their fault. As long as there are other adults in their lives, they should have attention, they should receive care, and they should be given the access to the resources and services that are life-affirming.

The statistics have been shared. The shock should have worn off by now. The concern should still be there. Action is needed. Mental health needs to be a priority. The curriculum needs to respond to the needs of the children, and educators need to acquire the skills to do the same.

 

Published in The Tribune on July 17, 2025.

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