Bahamas — Legal Help

Emergency number 911 or 919 reaches the Royal Bahamas Police Force; there is no separate tourist police, but downtown Nassau is heavily policed. If detained you have the right to a lawyer — insist on one before signing anything, and ask that your embassy be notified. The US Embassy is in Nassau, the British High Commission reopened in Nassau in 2022, and Canada is covered from its Nassau consular presence; embassies can visit you, pass messages and supply lawyer lists but cannot get charges dropped. Court process is English-language and Commonwealth-style.

Age of consent is 16 under the Sexual Offences Act 1991. Because sex work itself is illegal, there is no lawful minimum age for it — any commercial arrangement is an offence, and anything involving a person under 18 is prosecuted as child exploitation with severe penalties. Drug offences, including small amounts of cannabis, are treated harshly for foreigners.