In spite of serious efforts to address sexual and gender-based violence across the country, there is still a high prevalence of rape, sexual penetration and physical violence against women and girls; not least Kambia, Northern Sierra Leone. In 2013, thanks to support from the U.S Government’s Global Women, Peace and Security Programme (GWPS),
the Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL) started a project aimed at promoting justice for victims and accountability for perpetrators of sexual and gender-based offences. The project also seeks to help reduce the discriminatory practices and behavior and empower women to protect their rights.
The Sierra Leone Parliament has passed a number of progressive laws aimed at protecting women and addressing the inequality gap in the country. However, implementation of those laws has been weak partly because of the absence of the required structures and weak financial support. In the Kambia District, the Family Support Unit of the Sierra Leone Police is badly understaffed and under-funded. This state of affairs has seriously undermined the unit’s ability to either respond to alleged violations in good time or investigate cases effectively. At the moment, unfortunately, there is still no resident Magistrate in the Kambia District. Some FSU personnel have told CARL that they have had to release persons accused of committing serious offences because they cannot keep them beyond the legal stipulated period of 10 days. Sadly, most of such suspects never appear when they are needed by the court.
Despite these structural challenges, there are also issues relating to lack of awareness among community members as well as limited capacity among law enforcement agencies. Since November 2013, a number of efforts have been made to promote education among local communities, empower law enforcement and justice officers, but more importantly, address the impunity gap that exists for perpetrators. To help address the impunity gap, CARL has recruited and trained a corps of community-based monitors who are helping to prevent violations through education and mediation, and where the violations allegedly occur, help victims to file complaints with the relevant state authorities.
Thanks to CARL trained community-based monitors, the culture of silence and sense of stigma associated with rape and sexual penetration is slowly declining. Through education, victims are now showing more willingness to come forward and file complaints with the police. They are also showing some resistance to attempts by perpetrators and family members to settle out of court. This partly explains why the number of reported cases has slightly increased. In Gbilleh Dixing Chiefdom, for example, there were 4 reported cases of SGBV; there were also two reported incidents in Magbema; while Madina and Masungbala recorded two and one incidents, respectively. The cases include rape, domestic violence, and maintenance.
In one of the heart rending cases, a 14-year old girl was alleged gang raped by four boys in Balensara- Samu Chiefdom. Her attackers reportedly threatened to kill her if she dared to resist. She, however, kept shouting until some community members, including a CARL-trained community monitor, intervened. They pursued the boys until they were arrested. They have been handed over to the police, investigations ongoing, while the girl is currently receiving medical treatment from the government hospital.
In short, CARL Monitors are keeping track of progress, which has helped to thwart any attempts at resolving the matter out of court.