By Newman Anthony Levey in Bo
Girls Empowerment Network (GEN) Sierra Leone, an advocacy group for women, has celebrated the International Women’s Day with rural women in Bo district.
The occasion was held on Sunday at Mattru on the Rail, a community in Tikonkor Chiefdom, seven miles away from Bo City.
The occasion which started with a march-past attracted community women, men and children. Naomi Tewo Gborie, a leading women’s rights advocate within the community, praised GEN for their decision to bring such an occasion to their community.
Organizers of the one-day forum used the program to motivate women to push for more successes in the midst of challenges.
Director of GEN, Mathew Kanu, said women of Sierra Leone had suffered too long in the hands of men and that his organization was trying to make sure that men didn’t abuse the rights of women.
Catherine Agatha Sillah, who was the chairperson for the program, said society had not supported women’s equality.
"Opportunities are given to boys while the girls are left behind to suffer. In some homes, because the woman did not give birth to a child, the home is in problem,” she said.
She added that discrimination had also been a concern for many women in their quest for equality.
“Some men say ‘in this place women should not talk while men are talking,’” she said.
Sillah urged women to be united and to support each other in productive ventures. She also asked them to be more engaged in their communities.
Fatmata Kanneh, a pupil at Ansarul Secondary School, used her address during the program to call on authorities present to help with the construction of a school within the area, stressing the dangers they are already facing as a result of the long distance they cover to school.
"We as students want government and NGO's to help build a secondary school in Mattru community, because leaving our community to go to Bo, seven miles away, and coming back, is very difficult,” she said.
“Some men are using this predicament to abuse us,” she added.
Copyright © 202 Politico Online
