Conversations about criminalizing marital rape in The Bahamas began long before the Davis administration took office, but they were given new life when the prime minister told reporters early in his term that addressing marital rape was not a priority for his administration.

Since that point, there has at least been a public show of attempting to take the matter seriously on an executive level, with the government going as far as releasing draft legislation that would end protections for those who rape their spouses.

Those opposing the criminalizing of marital rape have centered their objections on a central supposition - according to the bible, a man cannot rape his wife.

Indeed, men and women can be raped, but the general conceit of those opposing marital rape is that once a woman consents to marriage, she has given blanket consent to have sex with her husband whether she wants him or not.

These discussions should continue with a drive toward passing marital rape legislation, and they should be informed by the broader context of what is occurring in the country with regard to rape.

And while we are establishing that all people can be raped, we must deal with our disconcerting rape problem.

For several years, The Bahamas has been a country with among the highest rates of rape per capita in the world.

And when we dive into this phenomenon of gender-based violence, which is by no means unique to The Bahamas, we should understand that those who are sexually assaulted often know their attackers and have some sort of relationship with them.

This was shown in the release of the crime statistics compiled from January 1, 2023, to April 23, 2023, which were released by Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander on Monday.

While crime overall was down compared to the year before, rape was one of the few crimes that went up.

There were 22 incidents of rape up to April 23 this year, compared to 20 in that period in 2022, an increase of 10 percent.

Ninety-five percent of the alleged rape victims were under the age of 35, with nearly 60 percent of the alleged attackers being known to those who reported it.

Ninety-four percent of the suspects were identified as male.

Among those men, 32 percent were said to be friends of the alleged victims, 14 percent an ex-lover, and 13 percent were boyfriends.

Two of the alleged victims were foreigners, according to Fernander, who spoke the same day a foreign man was charged with the alleged rape of a foreign woman on a cruise ship this month.

We know that women have often been raped by their boyfriends and ex-lovers, as well as people they considered friends.

It makes no sense, then, to suggest a husband cannot rape his wife when a boyfriend who cohabits with his girlfriend can.

Marriage does not automatically make a relationship more intimate.

While one can argue rape does not occur in healthy relationships, rape occurs in relationships nevertheless.

But beyond criminalizing marital rape is the issue of rape itself.

By far, more women report that they were raped than men.

But we must recognize that men and boys also are raped by men and women.

The stigma attached to the loss of masculinity or being afraid to unpack childhood trauma has likely led to a vast under-reporting of these crimes.

Rape is an incredibly dehumanizing experience.

It is a violent act that robs one of their bodily autonomy, dignity, and human rights.

It is one of the worst things one human can do to another.

Rape can leave survivors with physical, emotional, and psychological trauma that can last a lifetime.

It can evoke a sense of shame, guilt, and self-blame, even though they are not responsible for their assault.

The statistics released this week send a chilling reminder that rape victims often know their attackers and the best strategy for preventing rape is not telling people to be more careful as to what they wear, where they go and what not to consume, but rather teaching everyone the importance of consent, personal boundaries and not being ashamed to speak up.

Perpetrators of rape and sexual violence must be held accountable for their actions. So should those who falsely accuse others of rape, damaging their reputations and other relationships.

As a society, we must come to accept that rape is rape, no matter one's relationship to their attacker.

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