NCJ Number
126237
Journal
Social Justice Volume: 17 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer 1990) Pages: 126-135
Date Published
1990
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This article details the role of women regarding the passage of the Sexual Offenses Act (1986) of Trinidad and Tobago.
Abstract
It provides the political and economic background of these Caribbean Islands as a prelude to the development of this legislation. Simultaneously, it outlines the development of the feminist movement and the formation of the Rape Crisis Center. The main proposed changes in the Sexual Offenses Bill are outlined and examples of the responses of individuals and organizations are described. The most noted reactions amongst women included letter writing; demonstrations; picketing parliament; speaking on television, radio, and in forums; signing petitions; and organizing into pressure groups. Women who previously had not given thought to the idea of marital rape now objected to their husbands' right to forced sexual intercourse with them. The debate over the bill was not only a result of consciousness raising, but the cause of it.