Dear Editor:

Bad-Faith Legislation: Write Law. Tick the Box. Keep Secret.

We have formed the view that in the Caribbean, in respect of laws for social justice, we pass laws in very bad faith.

We write laws to appease the parties to the international conventions we have ratified; but with no intention whatsoever of using those laws to serve our vulnerable citizens.

We see these laws as a masquerade: we pretend to be something we are not. We create the veneer of modernity while we remain as misogynistic, patriarchal, and parochial as ever.

This is true whether we are talking about gender equality, partner violence, adolescent access to healthcare, or fairness and inclusion for LGBTQI+.

Our recipe is simple: write the law, tick the box, keep secret. Never promulgate, never implement.

If you think this is an exaggeration, let me give us just one example. As long ago as 1984, we became the second country in the region to adjust our Age of Majority Bill. We provided for teenagers 16 and older to have access to healthcare without the need for parental consent.

This was necessary fix to a legal absurdity: sex was no longer a crime at 16, but that same 16 or 17-year-old required parental consent to access to contraceptives!

Please do not take my word: read Age of Majority Act, Cap 11, Section 13 for yourself,

https://laws.gov.ag/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/cap-11.pdf

But we have encountered no healthcare worker who is aware of this. On the contrary, forty years later, diligent nurses still instruct 16 and 17-year-olds to return with their parents!

The health tutors do not know; HFLE teachers are clueless; women’s organisations seem to be unaware; parents are surprised; and the Ministry of Health seems to be oblivious of its own provisions.

This pattern repeats itself again, and again. Bottom line: our social justice legislation is a mask for the outside world, while we leave our citizens in the same social condition the law should help us to address. The law was never written to redress any local harm; it was written only to create an illusion of modernity.

Sincerely

ASPIRE

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: OPINION: Bad-Faith Legislation: Write Law. Tick the Box. Keep Secret..