This section describes legislation and policy pertaining to a range of SRH-related issues that are considered criminal acts and carry sanctions by law. With the exception of the Child Abuse Protocol (2004), these are addressed in the Criminal Code of Grenada and include: ‘carnal knowledge” or age of sexual consent; abortion; consensual or forced same-sex intercourse; and the Child Protection and Adoption Act (2010). Each is described below; however, there was no information available pertaining to their development.
Age of sexual consent/statutory rape
Sexual consent of adolescents as addressed in the Criminal Code states that it is an offence for anyone to have sexual intercourse with a female less than sixteen years of age, with or without her consent (Ramdhani, 2005); this is commonly referred to as the “statutory rape” or “age of consent” law. However, this law unfortunately only applies to girls and not boys (Ramdhani, 2005; Sealy-Burke, 2006) – an area of gender inequality. But even among girls, the law differentiates between girls who are less than age 13 and those who are age 13 but not yet age 16. In the latter category, the penalty carries only five years on conviction, and prosecution for this offence may be avoided altogether if not instituted within three months of
the date of the offence. Furthermore, the male offender has a defence if it could be shown that he believed the girl was at least 16 years at the time of the act. The former category carries 15 years and there is no limitation on the prosecution of this offence (Ramdhani, 2005). This has implication for whether girls and/or their families will voluntarily or under duress delay or forgo reporting of some incidences of sexual abuse according to the definition and penalties in the law.
Abortion
The issue of abortion is provided for in the Criminal Code. Abortion in Grenada is restricted, as the law states that it is an offence to intentionally and unlawfully cause an abortion or miscarriage. The offender is liable to imprisonment for ten years. According to the document, the offence can be committed either by the woman or any other person; furthermore, a person can be guilty of using means with intent to commit the offence, although the woman is not in fact pregnant (emphasis added). While the law does not specify means, I have interpreted it to refer to medical or homemade devices/treatment to induce an abortion, which has implications for help-seeking related to adolescent pregnancy. However, the law makes provision for an abortion for the purpose of medical or surgical treatment, whereby it is presumed that the intention is not to cause death. According to the law, abortion is only permitted on the following basis:
To save the life of the woman;
To preserve physical health; and
To preserve mental health.
However, abortion is not available upon request, as a result of rape or incest, or economic, social and other reasons, and may have implications for coping with pregnancy among adolescents. Considering that pregnancy puts the health and life of adolescents at enormous risks due to their still developing bodies, it can be argued that the permissive conditions for an abortion in Grenada can be viewed as a loophole and can be applied to adolescents. Nonetheless, it was not clear whether there are specific policies or protocols within the health sector to guide health providers’ decision-making and reporting of legal abortions.
Consensual or forced same-sex intercourse
Consensual or forced same-sex intercourse, referred to as sodomy, is criminalized through the offence of “unnatural crime” which is committed by way of anal sexual
intercourse. The offence can be committed by a male person with/to another male person and/or a male person with/to a female person, and is punishable by imprisonment for ten years. Based on the wording of the text, the offence cannot be committed by two female persons, and or by a female person with/to a male. However, locally, this law is interpreted to mean that homosexuality among male and female is illegal. This criminalization of same-sex sexuality, similar to the criminalization of abortion, highlights the prominence of religious and moral values in Grenadian society, and has implications for adolescents who may identify as being a homosexual or bisexual. This may also hinder help-seeking, especially related to HIV if adolescents believe that HIV/AIDS is associated with homosexuality.
Child Protection and Adoption Act
Sexual abuse is also provided for in the updated Child Protection and Adoption Act (2010) and in the Criminal Code. The Child Protection Act protects adolescents considered to be at risk, among other things, where they have been sexually molested or exploited where the parents know or should know and fails to protect the child. This Act makes provision for the establishment of an Authority with the capacity to apply to a court for an order of protection with respect to a child in need of protection (Friday, 2008). According to the information on the Royal Grenada Police Force web page, the Criminal Code carries strong penalties on sexual offences against children (www.rgpf.gd). However, the penalties are not detailed on the website.
To support the implementation of the earlier Child Protection Act (1998), and other child abuse related legislation, a National Child Abuse Protocol was developed in 2004 to give direction to the agencies and professionals involved in child abuse cases. The protocol includes guidelines and procedures for reporting suspected child sexual abuse; conducting investigations; case management, inclusive of placement, treatment and follow up services; involvement of schools; information sharing; interviewing the child; medical Interventions and; establishing roles and responsibilities of agencies (GoG, 2004). The next section describes the key organizations and services/programs available related to ASRH.