“Smile For Me, Sweetie!”: An Analysis of Contemporary Gender Based Violence and Discrimination in The Bahamas

Women in the Bahamas face various forms of pervasive sexist discrimination and high rates of gender-based violence. However, recent governmental initiatives aimed at addressing gender inequality have not proven effective. The narrow focus on individual reforms like anti-crime measures to curb structural violence highlights a lack of understanding of gender inequality as embedded within social institutions. To interrogate the institutionalized nature of gender inequality in the Bahamas, the present study draws on in-depth interviews with seven Bahamian women’s rights activists to explore the social, cultural, and political explanations for the persistence of gender-based violence and discrimination. Three major themes emerged from the interviews: 1) determinants of gender-based violence and discrimination; 2) barriers to addressing them; 3) and, proposed solutions to eliminate gender inequality. This study highlights the structural nature of inequality, focusing on meso- and macro-level explanations for the contemporary state of gender relations