Michigan Journal of Gender & Law Volume 22 Issue 1 2015 A Postcolonial Theory of Spousal Rape: The Carribean and Beyond Stacy-Ann Elvy New York Law School Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjgl Part of the Common Law Commons, Family Law Commons, Law and Gender Commons, and the Legal History Commons Recommended Citation Stacy-Ann Elvy, A Postcolonial Theory of Spousal Rape: The Carribean and Beyond, 22 MICH. J. GENDER & L. 89 (2015). Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjgl/vol22/iss1/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Michigan Journal of Gender & Law by an authorized editor of University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. A POSTCOLONIAL THEORY OF SPOUSAL RAPE: THE CARIBBEAN AND BEYOND tacy-nn lvy* Many postcolonial states in the Caribbean continue to struggle to comply with their international treaty obligations to protect women from sexual violence. Reports from various United Nations programs, including UNICEF, and the annual U.S. State Depart- ment Country Reports on Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Bar- bados, Dominica, Jamaica, and Saint Lucia (“Commonwealth Countries”), indicate that sexual violence against women, including spousal abuse, is a significant problem in the Caribbean. Despite ratification of various international instruments intended to elimi- nate sexual violence against women, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Com- monwealth Countries have retained the common law spousal rape exemption.