The
Development Planning Unit
Government of the British Virgin Islands

The Status of Women
In the British Virgin Islands

REVIEW AND APPRAISAL

A.  THE SITUATION IN THE EARLY 1980's

It was not until October of 1992, that any Government machinery for the advancement of women in the British Virgin Islands was established. The territory was not involved in the activities that marked the International Decade for Women and did not participate in the Copenhagen or Nairobi Conferences. As a British Dependent Territory, however, the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women was extended to the BVI by the United Kingdom in 1986.

The early 1980's was a period which saw expansion in the tourism, construction, transport, communications and financial services sectors in the territory. This growth in economic activities was accompanied by an increase in the demand for labour which could not be provided by the local labour force. This resulted in a high rate of in migration. Between 1980 and 1991 the net migration inflow totalled 3,154, with about 44.8% of these being female, and accounted for 62% of the 80% intercensal increase. By 1991 the foreign-born population of the British Virgin Islands accounted for almost 50% of the entire population.

This increase in economic development and population was not accompanied by the realization of equality for women. like elsewhere in the Caribbean, women in the British Virgin Islands who accounted for 48.9% of the population (Table A:1), found themselves struggling against legal, institutional and social forms of discrimination.

 TABLE A: 1
POPULATION AT CENSUS DATES BY GENDER (1960 - 1991)

Source: Development Planning Unit, 1994

TABLE A: 2
POPULATION BY ISLANDS 1970, 1980, 1991

Source: Development Planning Unit, 1994

Women were absent from the highest levels of decision-making within the legislature. As a British colony, a great deal of executive power was allocated to the male representatives of the administering power. The local legislative and Executive Councils were made up entirely of men and the welfare and status of women was a top priority. Women were severely underrepresented in administrative and managerial positions as well as in those higher paying occupational sectors like economics, construction, accounting, finance, engineering, and science. They were congregated instead, in the traditional "female" sectors which included nursing, teaching, domestic, service and clerical categories.

Constitutional laws like the British Nationality Act which stipulated the citizenship of the British Virgin Islands discriminated against children born in the territory of foreign parents or born out of wedlock to non-national mothers. Women, unlike their male counterparts could not transfer belongership status to their foreign-born spouses. In addition, a woman who bad gained belonger status through her husband would have her status reverted to that of a non-belonger if she remarried a man who was not deemed to be a belonger. Similarly, if the woman's belonger status was acquired through certification, this status would be reverted to that of a non-belonger if she married a non-belonger. (Legall 1988:18,19).

Common law marriages, prevalent in the British Virgin Islands and throughout the Caribbean, were not recognized by law, leaving women and illegitimate children at a disadvantage. Women were also discriminated against in terms of acquisition of property rights and certain property aspects on the ending of a marriage.

Violence against women surfaced as a major problem during this period, but there were and still are no specific statutes against domestic violence or even rape. These offences were addressed under the Offences Against Persons Act and the Criminal Law Amendment Act. Indecent assault on a girl carried a maximum term of imprisonment of two years, while indecent assault on a mate carried a maximum four-year term.

The Infant life Preservation Act permits abortion to preserve the life of the mother, but women's right to control their bodies is restricted under the Offences Against Persons Act. This Act made abortion illegal and negated even the permission to have abortion to save the life of the mother.

Women who came to the territory in search of a better life took jobs not wanted by non-British Virgin Islanders and some who became pregnant were sometimes faced with repatriation. In addition, there was no law for women in general to address sexual harassment. Sexual harassment became a problem, especially for immigrant women who were threatened by deportation. Women were underpaid for certain jobs and in some instances still were not receiving equal pay for work of equal value (Harney et al 1992).

It was in this context, where women's lives were negatively affected by abuse, legal and social discrimination, inadequate child care services and lack of representation in the decision-making process, that in 1988, the Women's Focal Point, an umbrella organization for women's groups was established. The organization immediately identified some of the problems and issues affecting women and called for the establishment of government machinery to address the situation.

 B. CHANGES SINCE THE EARLY EIGHTIES

1. THE SHARING OF POWER AND DECISION MAKING

Like most of the other Caribbean islands, the post-Columbian history of the British Virgin Islands saw the introduction of colonialism along with slavery, capitalism and consequent economic exploitation by Europeans as they battled for global economic and political supremacy. These historical developments have left a legacy not only of economic and political dependence, but also of patterns of inequalities based on race and gender.

The political, economic and social structure of the British Virgin Islands was changed with the coming of Columbus in 1493 and under the present Virgin Islands Constitution Order the territory remains a colony of Great Britain. Any consideration of the distribution of power and decision-making within the territory, therefore, must take into account that as a colony, a number of important decisions affecting all levels of society are made outside the territory or by expatriate officials.

GOVERNMENT

The British Virgin Islands Constitution which was designed in Britain, provides for a Governor who is appointed by the Queen, a Deputy Governor, who is designated by the Queen, an Executive Council and a legislative Council.

The position of Governor has traditionally been filled by a male citizen of the United Kingdom. He is responsible for defence, external affairs (including international relations, consular services, treaties and conventions), internal security (including the police and the courts), the public service and the Judicial and legal services, the establishment of Commissions, the National Advisory Council, as well as some home affairs (including passports, nationality, visas, and disaster preparedness). The Governor also holds reserved legislative powers under the authority of the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom for the exercising of his responsibilities and is only required to consult with the Chief Minister on these matters. On other matters, however, he is required to act according to the advice of the Executive Council.

The Deputy Governor is responsible for the administration of the Governor's office and may at the request of the Governor sit in the Executive Council. This position is presently occupied by a local male.

The Chief Minister is appointed by the Governor from among the nine elected members of the legislative Council. The Governor normally chooses the elected member most likely to command a majority in the Council to assume this office. Acting on the advice of the Chief Minister, the Governor also appoints the other Ministers of Government. The Chief Minister and the other Ministers have responsibility for any government business which does not come under the jurisdiction of the Governor. This includes the areas of Finance, Economic Development and Planning, Tourism, Natural Resources, Communications and Works and Social Services.

The Executive Council, the territory's executive body is chaired by the Queen's representative, who-is the Governor. It includes the Chief Minister, three other Ministers and the Attorney General, who is an ex-officio member appointed by the Governor.

The legislative Council is composed of a Speaker, who is chosen from outside the Council, one ex-officio member who is the Attorney General, and nine elected members who represent single-member constituencies. There is also provision for an Official leader of the Opposition.

The Executive Council usually clears Bills in draft form before presenting them to the legislative Council for debate. Bills passed by the legislature can only be signed into law by the Governor. While the legislature has the power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the territory, the administering power has this ultimate authority and all legislation must be submitted to the Governor who may assent or decline to assent. In the final analysis, Buckingham Palace has the power to disallow any Bill assented to by the Governor.

The colonial status of the British Virgin Islands has left a limited amount of power allotted to the local government. This was evidenced in the recent disagreement between Britain and the local government over the introduction of an at 'large system' for political elections. The local government opposed the introduction of this system, but this did not affect Britain's power to implement it. This exclusion from power and decision making is even more pronounced when the gender factor is taken into consideration.

While twentieth century BVI women have been contesting seats in elections since 1972, to date, not one has been successful. Consequently, the position of Chief Minister has always been held by a male and all the other Ministers and elected officials have also been male. (See Tables 1:1 & 1:2). The only women to break the tradition of an all-male legislative Assembly and Executive Council, have been those who have been appointed to the post of Attorney General, as the Attorney General is an ex-officio member of these bodies. While this has allowed for female representation, the fact remains that women have not yet broken through the electoral barriers to serve as elected representatives.

Although the British Virgin Islands comprise some forty islands, with the most populated ones being Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada and Jost Van Dyke there is no local government representation specific to the islands. The whole territory is divided up into nine electoral districts.

TABLE 1:1
PARTICIPATION IN PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLIES -
LEGISLATIVE COUNCILS

Source: Women 's Desk

TABLE 1:2
PARTICIPATION IN GOVERNMENT AS MINISTERS

Source: Women's Desk

TABLE 1:3
PARTICIPATION IN EXECUTIVE COUNCILS

Source: Women's Desk

A number of reasons have been offered for the absence of elected female representatives in the legislature. These have ranged from the traditional stereotypic claims that politics is "too rough a game" for women, to those who blame women themselves for not being interested, not being well prepared when they have contested the polls, and not having the ability to "network like the men'. Some claim that it Is women's image of themselves which is the greatest obstacle to women's ascendancy to political office and that women must give themselves "permission to succeed". Others point out that men deliberately exclude women from their cliques, because they feel that women have no place in these arenas of power, while others contend that the women who have to date presented themselves for political office have not been well supported by the political parties they represented.

Some British Virgin Islanders feel that electoral reform is necessary because the district system of nine constituencies consisting of one thousand voters or less, favours men and makes it difficult for women to break through. Some of those interviewed felt that women would stand a better chance of being elected to the Legislature in an "at large" system because the district system acts to restrict the ability of newcomers to become elected.

These explanations, however, exclude reference to the fact that historically, the common law of Great Britain and the British Virgin Islands has served to discriminate against women. In the late nineteenth century several rulings emphasized the fact that women had no voting rights and consequently did not have the legal right to offer themselves as political candidates or even cast a vote to elect a member of parliament (Legall 1988). In one landmark case, Beresford-Hope v lady SandHurst (1889), legal] notes that a woman who had contested an election and obtained the majority of votes and was consequently declared to be elected was challenged by a man who claimed the seat on the grounds that the woman was disqualified from holding the seat based on her gender. The court held that women were incapacitated legally from holding seats in council and that the votes that the women had received had to be considered as having been 'thrown away"(Legall 1988:11).

The legacy of these discriminatory rulings still continues to affect women politically as well as socially in the British Virgin Islands, but in addition, the modern laws have also served to exclude the election of certain women to the legislative Council and prohibit them from enjoying certain residential rights and privileges (Legall 1988).

According to Section 28 of the Constitution, anyone who is "deemed to belong to the Virgin Islands" is qualified to be elected to the legislative Council. Section 2(2)(e), however, debars any woman who having obtained citizenship by certificate, then marries a person who is not deemed to belong to the Virgin Islands. In other words, any woman who derived her right to be called a belonger of the British Virgin Islands other than by birth, forfeits this right and the right to hold an elected political office if she chooses to marry someone who does not have belonger status. The discriminatory nature of this section of the Constitution, legal] (1988) points out, is that the said section does not similarly debar a man . In other words, a man who obtained citizenship by certificate and marries a person who is not deemed to be a belonger, does not "constitutionally cease to belong to the Virgin Islands and therefore would be eligible for election under Section 28(b) of the Constitution'. This discrimination against women becomes more serious when we consider that according to the latest census, about fifty per cent of the population is made up of foreign nationals, increasing the likelihood that more women could be alienated.

In spite of the many colonial, social, economic and political factors which hinder the political advancement of women to the highest levels of government, some are quick to point out that there are quite a few women in prominent positions in the British Virgin Islands. It is one of the few territories that can boast of a female Attorney General. Two of the five (40%) of the Permanent Secretaries are women and slightly less than half of the government departments statutory boards and other agencies are headed by women (Women's Desk 1994).

PARTICIPATION IN THE ECONOMIC AND ADMINISTRATIVE SECTORS

Women, who make up 48.7% of the population are still underrepresented in the economic decision-making and the administrative and managerial arena, however. (See Tables 1:4 & 1:5). Of the 685 employers or own account workers in 1980, 144 or 21% were women. While female participation in this sector grew by 7.7% by 1992, only 301 of the 1088 persons in this category were women. In the administrative/managerial sector, the number of female participants grew from 66 (31.6%) in 1980 to 334 (40.7%) in 1992.

TABLE 1:4
PARTICIPATION AS EMPLOYERS/OWN ACCOUNT WORKERS

Source: BVI Census Report 1980, Development Planning Unit

TABLE 1:5
PARTICIPATION IN ADMINISTRATIVE/MANAGERIAL POSITIONS

Source: Census Report 1980, Development Planning Unit, 1994

While it is obvious that female participation in these areas of decision-making has been increasing over the years, women are still underrepresented, for the majority of female workers are still concentrated in the service or clerical sectors.

JUDICIARY

The Constitution of the British Virgin Islands and other Dependent Territories does not establish or create the judiciary . It is established instead by ordinary legislation (Legall 1988). The law of the land is the common law of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, together with the locally enacted legislation. The law is administered by the Court of Summary Jurisdiction, the Magistrate's Court, the Juvenile Court, and by special arrangement, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, which comprises a High Court of Justice and a Court of Appeal ( UN Special Committee on Decolonization - Working Paper 1992). Women make up about 33.3% of the lawyers and some of the visiting judges have also been women.

CONCLUSIONS

Although, according to the statistics presented later in this report, women seem to be more advanced in terms of education than men, by and large men constitute the overwhelming majority of the persons who make the decisions which influence policy developments. This is amply illustrated in the establishment of an influential task force on investment in 1993. As pointed out by the Women's Desk, only two of the eleven appointees were women.

As 1995 approaches more attention is being drawn to the under-representation of women in the higher levels of the decision-making process. One of the awareness-building programmes organized by the Women's Desk has been a "Women in Politics" seminar, aimed at educating women about the techniques of successful campaigning (Women's Desk 1994). It is hoped that such thrusts will help equip women to break through the traditional barriers and participate in the higher echelons of the decision-making process.

The creation of a law Reform Committee in December 1993, another result of the efforts of the Desk, should also assist in the elimination of the legal discrimination which prevent certain women from participating in the parliamentary process (See Section 3 for further discussion).

While certain amendments to the Constitution will contribute to the implementation of legal equality for women, as a British colony, the only means for British Virgin Islanders to gain access to the highest levels of decision-making and power , is the acquisition of independence. While some feel that the colony is not ready for independence, like most of the existing colonies it is not an issue which has received much public debate and discussion. This in itself, however, must be addressed in the context of equal sharing of power and the decision-making for both women and men.

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