By Saio Marrah
The Don Bosco Fambul, a non-governmental organization that seeks the welfare and safety of abused girls and children in Sierra Leone has launched its latest campaign called “Lef Mi Bodi” with a confidential toll free line “323” aimed at ending sexual exploitation and abuse against children across the country.
In her keynote address, at the launch of the campaign on Friday 24th September this year, the Public Relations Officer of Don Bosco Fambul, Amanda Helen Clements said despite government and other agencies’ efforts to curb sexual exploitation against children, sexual abuse cases remain alarming.
She added that in 2020 alone, 2138 (Two thousand one hundred and thirty-eight) children in distress called the Don Bosco Child Line and that the Rainbo initiative recorded 2322 (Two thousand three hundred and twenty-two) cases of sexual assault on minors nationwide. The Family Support Unit (FSU) of the Sierra Leone Police recorded 915 cases of sexual exploitation between January and April of 2021.
“The Lef Mi Bodi campaign aims at raising awareness among the population about these issues related to sexual exploitation, and how to prevent them,” she said.
She noted that the consequences of Sexual abuse on children do not only affect them, but the society as a whole. “It can have a wide variety of effects on physical and emotional health. These include physical injuries, psychological complaints (depression or suicidal thoughts), or restrictions on reproductive health. The World Health Organization identifies sexual violence against women and children as one of the greatest health risks for women and children world,” she said.
She added that children who have experienced violence are often also affected by a wide range of socio economic consequences.
The Director of Public Prosecution at the Ministry of Justice, Easmon Ngakui, noted that cases have to be reported to their office before they can be charged to court. He said in 2020 they had 565 cases reported to their office and convicted 201 across the country.
He noted that the sexual model court has about eight to nine judges that deal with sexual penetration matters.
He however noted that even though the Children and Young Person’s Act and that of the Child Rights Act of 2007 stated that a child below the age of 14 cannot be held responsible for criminal matters, however the 2019 amendment of sexual penetration and rape, stated that a child can be tried for criminal matters even below the stipulated age.
He said this simply means that a child as young as five years can be tried as long as it involves sexual penetration and rape.
The Head of FSU, Fatmata Daboh Kamara, said FSU is a specialized unit of the Sierra Leone Police Force which has a broad mandate of investigating sexual gender violence cases and violence against children after the enactment of the gender act.
According her, sexual penetration is the most immediate harmful type of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) occurring in all facets of society.
She said they have created a unit that is called Sexual Assault Syndicate within FSU that deals purely with SGBV cases and that it is in almost all the Police stations within the country. The unit also conducts joint investigation with partners to ensure compliance in professionalism in that direction.
She therefore appealed to all other partners to support in curbing sexual based violence against children and women.
The Assistant Director, Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs, Daniel Albert Gbow, noted that the ministry is responsible for the protection of women and children through monitoring, partnership, and review of child protection or gender policy and legislation.
He added that they are currently reviewing the child rights act and that they are going to factor sexual exploitation issues to see how best they can punish perpetrators, engage communities as well as children in schools and elsewhere.
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online (27/09/21)
