By KRYSTEL ROLLE, Guardian Staff Reporter

krystel@nasguard.com

The Bahamas will host the first Caribbean Crisis Center Conference next month in an effort to tackle the "horrendous problem" of sexual violence, which has seen a tremendous increase in recent years.

A joint UN/World Bank report on drugs and crime revealed earlier this year that three of the top ten recorded rape rates were in the Caribbean, with The Bahamas topping the list. The report, released in March 2007, revealed that The Bahamas had the most reported incidents of sexual violence, with 133 rapes — nearly 15 times above the average number of reports in 102 countries. That average number currently stands at 15.

It was these figures that highlighted the need for the conference set for Sept. 25-29, according Dr. Sandra Dean-Patterson, director of the local Crisis Center.

Under the theme "Creating partnerships to confront Sexual Violence in the Caribbean," the conference will bring together Caribbean Crisis Center leaders to create avenues and strategies to deal more effectively with issues of sexual violence.

"I think the key issue is, this is not just a women's and child's issue, it's a male issue and it's a national issue. And we need everybody to get involved. So we invited everyone to brainstorm and look at the best practices. Let's look at what we need to do as a region to deal with this," Patterson said at a press conference yesterday.

So far, 14 countries in the region, including Jamaica, which ranks fourth on the report and St. Vincent and the Grenadines which had the third highest rape rate, are scheduled to participate, according to Donna Nicolls, conference coordinator and Crisis Center volunteer.

The three-day conference will cover a variety of issues, including prevention, advocacy and intervention treatment, and two special sessions — one focusing on men and an evening session for youth and youth leaders under the theme, "A Culture in Denial".

"This is going to be a really exciting evening. We are going to confront some myths and start a new conversation on how we're going to go about this campaign. And the last day is about creating partnerships. This is the nitty-gritty day when we're going to sit together and we're going to come up with resolutions and action plans that will take us forward for the next year," Nicolls said.

This conference is particularly timely since twice as many children are sexually assaulted as adults, in the region and around the world Patterson noted.

"Unfortunately, we have the highest rate of sexual violence in the world," said Patterson.

She noted that the numbers may have something to do with a higher rate of reporting and that people were more conscious of sexual violence; however, either way, it was unacceptable.

"Our biggest failure is the system — the reporting is good and the investigation by the police is good — where we fall down is the court system. And since the (19)80s we've been talking about the small number of convictions," said Patterson.

"They don't stop because there's no consequences. We've opened the doors but we need them to know that this is a country that will not tolerate sexual violence."

Nicolls hopes the conference will be held annually across the Caribbean.

The Crisis Center is currently working to update local figures of sexual violence and the number of persons convicted in the last five years in preparation for the conference.