By Nasratu Kargbo
Director of Research and Policy at Institute for Governance Reform (IGR) Dr. Fredline M’Cormack-Hale says that the majority of Sierra Leoneans believe that domestic violence should be a private matter.
Speaking at a meeting held at Radisson Blu Hotel on Thursday to present their findings on Gender-Based Violence and Gender Equality in the country, Dr. M’Cormack-Hale said 57% of the population thought domestic violence was a private matter that needed to be settled and resolved within the family, whilst 37% of those interviewed believed the act was a criminal matter that required the involvement of law enforcement agencies.
According to the statistics, 56 percent of people who believe that such matters should be settled at home are women and 58 percent men.
The statistics presented showed that the financial status, educational level and location influence the respondents’ thoughts on the issue. 61% of those who say that domestic violence should be a private matter live in rural areas, 62 percent with no formal education and 72 percent live in high poverty.
Dr. M’Cormack-Hale said that one of the questions asked during the survey was whether women would be criticized, harassed or shamed in their communities for reporting GBV. 48% of respondents said it was somewhat or very likely for such to happen, whilst 37 % said it was very unlikely and 14 % said it was somewhat unlikely.
The perception survey clearly indicates that 51 percent of women believe that their women folks who report incidents of GBV will suffer criticism, harassment or shame. The figure of women who hold that belief is higher as compared to 45 percent of men.
Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs Manty Tarawalli said “government considers domestic violence a criminal offence that should not be treated as a private matter”, referencing the Domestic Violence Act of 2007 which considers it criminal.
She said that even though the number of domestic violence was not as high as sexual violence, it could sometimes lead to death.
She said that in relation to SGBV, the government had been handling the problem in two – namely prevention and response – with a view to finding ways to prevent the menace from happening and how to respond to it when it does.
Speaking in the area of prevention, she noted that they had integrated sexuality education in the basic education curriculum, embarked on economic empowerment for women, and developed parenting strategies, amongst others.
In the area of response, she spoke of the establishing of One-Stop Centres, Sexual Offences Court and Community Safe Homes.
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