violence9, which is rooted in women’s unequal status in society. Women’s unequal ability to confer nationality on their children has been linked with heightened obstacles to women extracting themselves from abusive relationships, while women and girls who lack nationality in their country of residence are at increased risk of child marriage and human trafficking.10 Recent Developments on Nationality Rights in The Bahamas 42. The Bahamas has sought to address deficiencies in its Constitution by bringing two Constitutional Referenda in 2002 and 2016 respectively, both of which were rejected by the electorate. Those attempts were not supported by sufficient awareness raising among the public, resulting in the proliferation of misinformation and uncharacteristically low voter turnouts. Despite these efforts, the Bahamian government is not precluded from fulfilling its obligations, as a State party to several international human rights Conventions including CEDAW, CRC, and the ICCPR, to uphold equal nationality rights for women and men. 43. The incumbent administration recently signaled its intention to remedy the discriminatory provisions through the introduction of ordinary legislation, as did the administration before it. The Government argues it is empowered to do under Article 13 of the Constitution which makes provision for the Government to introduce legislation for the acquisition of citizenship by persons who do not become citizens of The Bahamas by virtue of the provisions the Constitution. 44. However, there are legitimate concerns that ordinary legislation or amendments to the Nationality Act may be susceptible to Constitutional challenges. The sincerity and priority accorded of the Government in addressing gender discrimination in nationality laws also remains opaque. In March 2021, the Bahamian Court of Appeal re-affirmed a Supreme Court ruling on the interpretation of Article 6 of the Constitution confirming the Article should be interpreted as meaning that all children born in The Bahamas to a Bahamian parent should automatically acquire nationality at birth – regardless of marital status of the parents. In response to the ruling, as opposed to welcoming clarity on the interpretation of this provision, which advanced one dimension of gender inequality and access to nationality for the children of Bahamian fathers, the Government instead indicated its intention to appeal the ruling to the Privy Council.11 45. In addition, there are legitimate concerns that ordinary legislation or amendments to the Nationality Act may be susceptible to Constitutional challenges, and it also remains unclear how committed the incumbent administration is on this issue with no real timeline on introducing legislative changes and no public education on the issue. Recommendations As illustrated by the information provided in this submission, we urge member states to make the following recommendations to The Bahamas: I. 9 Undertake the necessary steps to raise public awareness and support needed to amend the Constitution and make necessary amendments to the Nationality Act. Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights, The Impact of Gender Discrimination in Nationality Laws on Gender-Based Violence, available at: https://equalnationalityrights.org/images/zdocs/Impact-of-Gender-Discrimination-in-Nationality-Laws-on-Gender-Based-Violence.pdf 10 Ibid. 11 Pinder: Govt will proceed with appeal of citizenship ruling - The Nassau Guardian