The Status of Women in Sierra Leone - By Zaniab Joaque

February 11, 2005 - (Standard Times (Freetown) The basic human rights enshrined in many international and regional instruments, such as Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Chapter on Human and People's Rights are found in the 1991 Sierra Leone constitution, chapter 3, sections 15-20 which provides for the equal right of women.

Sierra Leone ratified the convention on the elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1998.

Though the constitution states that no law should discriminate against any person because of his/her gender, in practice women face structural discrimination under all three types of laws, which coexist in Sierra Leone-English, Islamic and customary law.

The effects of discriminatory inheritance practices are particularly devastating to women and children, which has produced many war widows.

It should be noted that Sierra Leone's criminal justice system remains largely dysfunctional due to a lack of financial and human resources.

The rate at which women are suffering at the hands of their male partners is something to worry about; they are beaten and even forced to have sexual intercourse.

The police are generally unlikely to intervene in domestic disputes except in cases resulting in severe injury or death.

Although rape is a crime under our law, historically, the response of the police and the judiciary to reports of rape has been minimal.

In fact, the first successful prosecution of a rape case did not occur until 1999.

Rape cases are not made a priority and are generally not handled professionally due to improper/insufficient training, lack of finances, and structural discrimination against women resulting in a lack of understanding that rape is a serious crime.

At this point I would like to commend the Commonwealth Police team for taking the robust step in establishing a number of centers called Family Support Units to educate police on sexual and domestic violence, receive rape victims, ensure proper forensic testing, assist in processing cases, and to reach out to the community.

The continuing political and military turmoil has had a particularly devastating impact on those most vulnerable to poverty and disease- women and children.

Sierra Leone's maternal mortality rate is highest in the world, estimated at one in every seven women dying from complications related to childbirth.

The inability of women to access health services is largely due to their unavailability but also a problem of access and affordability.

Much of our population is so poor that we cannot pay even small fees that are now required.

Over the past decade, our country has gone through a devastating civil war for human rights. Internally displaced persons, returnees and poverty-stricken population, have taken up to the streets of the big urban areas and children and women are the foremost victims in all these vulnerable groups.

The basic rights of the child were and are still being tramped upon, especially the girl child.

In view of this background, there is the need for a standing policy for the care and protection of the child, as children who are caught in these circumstances whether natural or social need protection that will lessen traumatic effects and enable them bounce back into the community.

Sex trafficking, is moving individuals for the sole purpose of using them as sex slaves.

Children are sometimes at risk because they can be manipulated or coerced and taken out of the country, sometimes without the knowledge of the family.

To my knowledge, there are not enough legal proceedings in this country that tackle the issue of sexual exploitation or prostitution.

In this regard I will like to recommend that parliament propose a bill that will seriously look into issues of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking.

This to me will assist the police force in their effort to eradicate or minimize the problem.

To conclude, the police in collaboration with other partners are working tirelessly to fight against this problem.

So we all should join hands and fight the good fight.

We women must become more active and vigilant and aspire to be models in our communities and agents of hope, and not be left in the kitchen of our husband's houses.