St. Vincent and the Grenadines

St Vincent and the Grenadines

State policies and legislative resources
  • Criminal Code 1990
  • Sexual Offences under Cap. VII of the Criminal Code
  • Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act 2011
  • Domestic Violence Act, amended in 2015.
  • Child Abuse Protocol (2006)
  • Child Justice Act (2019)
  • National Tripartite Workplace Policy on HIV and AIDS, Revised Draft (2011)
  • National Child Protection Policy Framework (2015-2020)
  • National Action Plan against Gender-Based Violence, 2015-2018
  • Updated National Action Plan to combat human trafficking (2021-2025) (p. 5).
  • National Strategic Plan for HIV (2010-2014)

GBV and SRHR Advocacy stakeholders

Government Institutions

  • Gender Affairs Division of the Ministry of National Mobilization
  • Gender Equality Commission, 2017
  • Royal Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force
  • Domestic Violence Crisis Centre in 2012, incl. short-term accommodation for victims of domestic violence and trafficking

Civil Society / Women's Movement

  • Women Against Rape (WAR)
  • Vincent Planned Parenthood Association (SVPPA)
  • End Violence Against Children
  • End Corporal Punishment
  • Human Rights Council
  • Grenadines Human Rights Association
  • Vincy Chaps

Thematic Issues

Implementation of anti-discrimination laws and policies against vulnerable populations
  • No specific legislation that addressed discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or social status.
  • Access to justice for women and girls continued to be a hindered process due to lack of resources, empathy and general understanding of women’s and girls’ issues. The law does not transparently prohibit marital rape.
  • Despite all the laws, protocols and protections in place and the creation if the Anti Trafficking in Persons Unit in 2012, human trafficking remained an issue in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Enabling Legal and policy framework to advance SRHR and GBV
  • There is no existing legislation addressing the issue of sexual harassment.
  • The 2015 Domestic Violence Act, had not been amended despite the criticism on the financial burden it placed on victims and on the undefined role of the crisis centre. Domestic violence is not recognized as a criminal offence under the Domestic Violence Act.
  • Despite the establishment of a Sexual Offences Unit within the Criminal Investigation Department, there was mistrust in reporting incidents of gender-based violence and sexual abuse to police officers and many of such cases were not effectively reported.
  • The Marriage Act provides a minimum legal age for marriage 15 years for girls and 16 years for boys.
  • Corporal punishment of children is still lawful despite repeated recommendations to prohibit it by the Committee on the Rights of the Child.
  • Access to justice for women and girls continued to be a hindered process due to lack of resources, empathy and general understanding of women’s and girls’ issues.
  • No Ombudsman or a human rights institution of any kind and recommended that the country establish, with the support of international partners, a national human rights institution in accordance with the Principles Relating to the Status of National Institutions (Paris Principles).

References

  • Vincent and the Grenadines, Country report, Third round. Follow-up mechanism oea/ser.l/ii.7.10 Convention of Belém do Pará (MESECVI) MESECVI/CEVI/doc.270/17, Fourteenth Meeting of the Committee of Experts (CEVI) November 21, 2017
  • National Report St. Vincent and the Grenadines, May, 2019. Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and Adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995)
  • National Report St. Vincent and the Grenadines, on the implementation of Montevideo, 2019
  • National report St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Human Rights Council, Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, 39th Session, November 2021
  • Summary of Stakeholders’ submissions on St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Human Rights Council, Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, 39th Session, November 2021
  • Vincent Planned Parenthood Association (SVPPA), 2021, submissions on St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Human Rights Council, Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, 39th Session, November 2021
  • Corporal punishment of children in St. Vincent and the Grenadines: Briefing for the Universal Periodic Review, 39th Session, November 2021, Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, 2020
  • Joint Submission of the United Nations Sub-regional Team for Barbados and the OECS (UNST) for the 3rd Cycle of the UPR of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, 39th Session, November 2021