Sierra Leone went through a decade-long dark period in its history by the close of the last century; a period that was characterized by serious violations and abuses of human rights of different kinds and varying degrees. Amongst the most heinous barbarity that became the hall mark of most of the warring factions was that of sexual violence particularly against women and girls as have been documented by several reputable human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch, a New York-based human rights organization, in a release entitled ‘Sexual Violence within the Sierra Leone Conflict’.
During the civil strife, sexual violence became widespread and systematic against women and girls including individual and gang rape, sexual assault with objects such as gun butts, firewood, and sticks; and some were kept in sexual servitude for long periods and forced bondage to male combatants. These slavery-like conditions often accompanied by forced labour and sexual crimes were most often characterized by brutality and in some instances extended to other members of the victim’s family. Most of the warring factions used sexual violence as a weapon to terrorise, humiliate, punish and ultimately cow women and girls into subservience. Thus, it is only a truism to say that the war in Sierra Leone was a war of terror against women and girls who bore the brunt of the atrocities. This point is underscored by the fact that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was, amongst other functions, implored to ‘give special attention to the subject of sexual abuses’.
However, the end to hostilities in the country has not seen an end to sexual related violations and abuses as stakeholders continue to grapple with diverse ways to delete this deadly virus from our society. And this challenge is particularly pervasive in the Bombali district. In spite of the upsurge in national legislations as well as international instruments all aimed at addressing post-war human rights challenges, sexual violence continues to be perpetrated against women and girls in the said district. This nefarious act is sometimes bizarrely carried out against children who are yet to change their milk teeth or learn the art of taking their first steps. As such, there is growing concern amongst human rights workers in the district to nip such practice in the bud before the situation becomes alarming. This is so because the effects of such a trend can be quite debilitating on the physical, emotion and mental development of the girl child in particular.
But the task is herculean though. The lack of adequate laws in tandem with modern-day justice delivery challenges to robustly deal with sexual violence is contributing hugely to the present state of affairs in the Bombali district. Most women and girls often remain silent due to shame, fear of reprisals, and the futility of reporting given the fact there is inadequate legal redress for such violations. As such, most of these cases do not see the light of day in court; they are compromised there and then by family members especially where the accused is of some ‘status’ in the community and the victim is poverty-stricken. The few that make it to court mostly get there on accidental basis; that is, they only get to court when an out-of-court ‘settlement’ has reached an impasse. The inconsequential ones that genuinely make their cases in court are sometimes thrown out for want of evidence to continue with prosecuting such matters. This is often the case when witnesses persistently fail to show up in court on adjourned dates.
In other instances, some accused relations in accord with victims’ relations, in their desperation to pervert the course of justice by wanting to get an out-of-court ‘settlement’ and with the tacit connivance of some prosecutors stall trial processes by developing litigation apathy. The case of an alleged rape of a 15 year-old girl (name withheld) in Bombali district is a pointer to underscore the above assertion. It was alleged that the accused, Dura Kamara, after months of prosecution, was acquitted and discharged by the Magistrates’ Court in Bombali district because the family of the victim wanted an out-of-court ‘settlement’ of the said matter; much to the chagrin of human rights activists who had earlier on taken an uncompromising stance for full blown prosecution of the said case up to a logical conclusion.
The trend of effects are worrying for a number of reasons. In some cases, the victim of such violence can either have an unwanted pregnancy or even lose her life. The act of perpetrating sexual violence against girls has the propensity of limiting them from realizing their full potentials in life especially school-going girls. In fact, this leads some of them to have constipated academic growth and in some instances abandon school all together and relocate to mostly remote places for fear of stigmatization. For those who are firm in their resolve to continue their academic sojourn, they will have to battle with them being ostracized by their peers. And for those who become impregnated in the process and go on to have the baby, such children face the prospect of being ostracized from mainstream society.
In addition, they are sometimes labeled as prostitutes, thus limiting their chances of marital bliss in the future. Some family members are alleged to even collect money from the perpetrators to withdraw cases from court without taking into account the impact of such an act on the life of the girl. In some instances, insult is added to injury where the victim is asked to marry the perpetrator without due regard to the traumatic experience she has been through. Most of such marriages are arranged for girls below the age of eighteen years; contrary to the Child Rights Act (2007) which prohibits the marriage of children and sets the age of marriage at eighteen years.
Another effect is that sexual violence has health implications also. There is a causal link between girls who are sexually abused and that of sexually transmitted infections, including the much dreaded HIV/AIDS. An instance to certify this statement, amongst others, is the case of the victim (name withheld: C/S No: 334/09) of Alimamy Sesay; a nine year-old girl who was diagnosed to have contracted a sexually transmitted infection after it was alleged that she had been sexually abused by the accused.
Furthermore, the psychological condition attached to sexual violence is high. Stigmatization closely follows the psychological condition. This is one of the key reasons for under reporting of sexual violence cases. Most families in the Bombali district see going public on issues such as sexual violence on the girl child as a ‘shame’ to the family and the child; a course of action which many think might limit the child’s chances of getting married and therefore should be kept classified. They instead resort to non-judicial means of resolving the tragedy rather than making use of state institutions charged with the statutory responsibility of upholding the rule of law. But the psychological aspect of the violence on the child is hardly taken cognizance of; something that can have a negative impact on the child’s development for life.
Sierra Leone still lags behind in enforcing international standards to protect and promote the rights of the girl child in particular and the case of Bombali district is an embodiment of the macrocosm. Whilst perpetrators walk on the aisle of impunity in many instances, little or no regard is given to the victim’s medical, physical, emotional, mental or psychological well-being.The authorities need to make this inhumane practice a thing of the past as it undermines the rule of law in our budding democracy. Therefore, stakeholders must coalesce their efforts to enforce laws that protect and promote rights of women and girls as such practice extols the virtues of the rule of law. And one sure way to begin is to expedite the enactment of the Sexual Offences Bill into law.