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State of emergency in Sierra Leone to curb sexual assaults
12-2-2019
The government of Sierra Leone declared a state of emergency on February 7 all over the African country against rape and sexual assault. This comes in the wake of rampant violence last year, over 8500 violence attacks, with an increase by 4000 cases against the year before. President Julius Maada Bio said there has been a wide uproar and protest across the nation in the past weeks after the brutal rape of five-year-old girl who was paralyzed from the waist down from the assault. Cases of rape against underage girls report one third of recorded cases, Maada Bio asserted, stressing that perpetrators will be punished by life imprisonment. A special police division will be created, as well as a special accelerated court to look into such cases. On the subject, Fatmeh Souri, the head of the Association of Lawyers advocating the rights of rape victims told BBC Arabic that the President’s decision draws attention to this phenomenon. The available sexual violence statistics, she warned, are incomplete as they were collected from a few centers across Sierra Leone. (Al Diyar, February 10, 2019)
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