Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is very common in Sierra Leone, and the fight against it is imperative. The Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL), with the help of its community-based monitors, is leading the fight against SGVB in Kambia District, which continues to experience its fair share of the problem.
Perhaps one of the challenges faced by CARL’s monitors is that some community people are not helping in the fight against such crimes, as many of these cases tend to be compromised by influential members of these communities, thereby risking protection of perpetrators from being accountable for the crimes they commit. Sadly, the Sexual Offences Act 2012 does not criminalize out-of-court settlement for such crimes. Although the original draft of the bill criminalized out of court settlement, the Rules of Court Committee reportedly expunge that clause from the bill before it was passed. Why or how did they reach such a decision is everyone’s guess. There are still tendencies for SGBV cases in Kambia District to not make it to the courts, and be resolved by compromise between the perpetrators and mostly the relatives of the victim or traditional leaders.
There are instances wherein community people aid alleged perpetrators to escape justice. Many a time when cases of such nature are reported to the police, prompt action such as arresting the accused, is hindered by family members and friends of the accused. Often, they will inform the accused beforehand about the presence of the police, try to hide conceal his location, and sometimes even assist him to flee from the jurisdiction. Sometimes this is because the parents or relatives of the alleged victim may have accepted an out-of-court settlement with the alleged perpetrator.
This, coupled with the fact that the Family Support Unit (FSU) are present in only some, and not all, of the seven chiefdoms in the Kambia District, is one of the reasons a huge number of such cases is still only kept in view. Out of the 101 cases of sexual and gender-based violence cases that were reported in 2013 to the FSU in Kambia, 40 cases are still kept in view, as most of the accused have since left the jurisdiction or are hiding from the grip of the police.
CARL has been monitoring a case of sexual penetration involving a nine-year old girl, who was sexually penetrated by a thirty-year old married man in one of the communities it works. The incident was only reported to the Family Support Unit due to the intervention of CARL-trained community monitors in that particular village. The community people tried all they could to stop the victim’s parents from reporting the matter to the police. As if that was not bad enough, they also called on other influential members of in the District to settle the case at the FSU station in Kambia. Some prominent members of the community, friends and family members of the alleged accused went to the station to negotiate an out-of-court settlement and for the accused to be released to them on bail. The head of the FSU did not mince her words in informing sympathizes of the accused that her institution would not condone such a practice, and that they should go to court if they wanted the accused to be release on bail. CARL would like to use this opportunity to thank the head of the Family Support Unity and her team of vibrant personnel for their robust action in handling this case.
In another development, a primary school girl, aged 15 years was about to be given into early marriage by her parents in one of our target communities. CARL’s monitors took prompt action by informing our office in Kambia, after which our staff, with the aid of Family Support Unit personnel, intervened to stop the parents from violating their daughter’s right. On reaching the village, the team was surprised to find out that the entire family, including the alleged victim, had fled the village for an unknown destination.
Similarly, a 12-year old girl was forcefully removed from school to be initiated into the “Bondo” society, where she was sure to undergo female genital cutting and subsequently be given into marriage by her single parent mother. Fortunately, the older brother of the young girl went to our offices in Kambia pleading for our intervention into the matter; “I want my sister to be educated”, he said. We acted promptly and stopped the mother from carrying out the said violation. The girl is currently in Class Six, preparing to take entrance examination into high school.
The above mentioned practices by some community people in Kambia District is undermining efforts to provide access to justice and accountability for victims of sexual gender-based crimes. They’re creating serious impunity gaps. Thus, the collective efforts of government, community people and civil society are needed to put an end to sexual abuse and its odd outcomes—teenage pregnancy, reproductive health hazards, child motherhood, and early marriage.
The Government has taken meaningful steps by enacting laws that seek to prevent and punish sexual and gender-based violence, and establishing institutions to implement the law, even though there are still implementation gaps and challenges. It is therefore crucial that local communities act positively to compliment the effort of the government, by, for example, helping to bring perpetrators to be accountable for their actions or crimes, allowing their children to attend school, thereby working together with the government to make sure that the high rate of teenage pregnancy and teenage motherhood is reduced in their respective communities. The law won’t make any impact, if those that the law seeks to protect are not making use of it or working in line with it. For its part, CARL will continue to raise awareness about the gender protection and empowerment laws, and to address other human rights issues in Kambia District through community outreach, radio discussion and airing of jingles so as to ensure that victims have access to justice when their rights are violated and that perpetrators are held accountable for their crimes.