UNFPA Caribbean

The Bahamas

Indicator	Ca. 1994	Ca. 2004
Total population	255,049	316,298
Average population growth rate		1.4%
Total fertility rate	2.4	2.06
% births with skilled attendants	99
GDP per capita PPP US$	11,184	12,940
Mortality
Infant mortality per 1000 live births	19.7	12.7
Life expectancy males	68.3	69.9
Life expectancy females	75.3	76.4
Maternal mortality ratio PER 10,000 POPULATION	1.6	1.9
Education
Primary enrollment (net) males	103.1	91.2
Primary enrollment (net) females		91.0
Secondary enrollment (net) males		83.9
Secondary enrollment (net) females		83.8
Reproductive health
Births per 1000 women aged 15-19	69.1	51.1
Contraceptive prevalence	NA	60.1
HIV prevalence rate (%) (15-24)	1.3	1.6
HIV prevalence rate (%) (15-24) females }		2.6

Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act 2000 - Amendments to the Act of 1991 made in 2000 have led to longer jail sentences for persons who commit rape and sexual offences against children
Employment Act (2002): Eliminates discrimination against HIV-infected persons

Domestic Violence Unit in the Police Force: Law enforcement and counseling of victims. Since 1998: Department of Education: Training and IEC on domestic and sexual violence; establishment of National Task Forces on Domestic Violence; establishment of Child Abuse and Protective Services Units in Department of Social Services; HFLE includes sections on domestic violence and sexual abuse prevention.
The Implementation of the PACE Program (1997) Under the PACE Program, adolescent girls who become pregnant while in school are able to continue their education.
Establishment of a National Council on the Prevention of Child Abuse.
Formation of a National Council on Older Persons (1999).
Pension: Since 1972 all insured persons over 65 years of age are entitled to retirement benefits also including the possibility of early retirement. More recently non-contributory pension schemes have been established to increase the coverage of those excluded from the contributory pension systems.

The lack of an holistic conceptual framework of sustainable human development constrains full integration of population concerns into development strategies. A key aspect of this constraint is the absence of definitions of concepts such as poverty in The Bahamian context.
Legislation which facilitates the smooth entry back into the school system. At present, a principal can refuse to accept a girl who was pregnant back into a particular school.
Address the cultural acceptance of young men to be teenage fathers without responsibility while young women are stigmatized.
Monitoring of reproductive rights is constrained by factors relating to inadequate understanding of the nature of reproductive rights.
Lack of standardized protocols that are in place to assist persons who are victims of gender-based violence or to be followed by personnel who work with such victims.