Barbados

The country’s transition away from the British monarchy underlines its active confrontation with the Barbadian colonial legacy. The population of Barbados is predominantly Black and of African descent. The island retains the brutal legacy of being England’s first “slave society,” and in the face of its collective trauma of enslavement, the country recognizes freedom and equality as the “most fundamental features” of its national identity. Barbados is actively involved in the movement to seek reparatory justice for slavery and representatives from the country serve as leading members of the CARICOM Reparations Commission. The population is also predominantly Christian. Demographic homogeneity paired with a firm government commitment to human rights, justice, and progressive social policy have minimized ethnic cleavages in the country. Nonetheless, the GSoD Indices highlight deficiencies in the country’s respect for social rights and equality. LGBTQIA+ persons in Barbados face discrimination and harassment, and same-sex relationships remain constitutionally unlawful. In recent years, the government has gestured toward raising the question of same-sex marriage in a public referendum but it has yet to act within its power to repeal anti-LGBTQIA+ laws. Despite the country’s relative prosperity in the region, Barbados also faces challenges pertaining to poverty alleviation. Individuals on the island are impacted by poverty at a concerning rate and households headed by women are disproportionately affected. The Covid-19 pandemic also dealt a major blow to the country’s economy and exacerbated the effects of poverty for children and other vulnerable groups. The government has since rebounded with a rights-based Social Protection Policy, attentive to the complex and multidimensional nature of poverty.  

Looking ahead, it will be important to watch the country’s current constitutional reform process, which was initiated after public criticism about the lack of sufficient public consultation about the transition to becoming a republic. With a sweeping mandate, the Constitutional Reform Commission commenced work in June 2022 and has urged widespread citizen participation in the process. It is uncertain at this time whether the reform process will achieve its lofty deliberative goals or stimulate greater public mobilization. In the coming years, the constitutional reform process, implementation of social protection policies, and overall emergence of a new governing ethos could lead to shifts in any of the GSoD Indices attributes.