By Mohamed T. Massaquoi
The First Lady of Sierra Leone has appealed to parents, local authorities and politicians in Pujehun District to do more to protect children in the district against sexual penetration and other gender-based crimes.
Fatima Bio made the call during her Hands off Our Girls campaign tour to the district on Saturday.
“What we need in Pujehun is development but the first development is taking care of our children. In the last 10 years, Pujehun has fallen behind in every development indicator,” Mrs Bio said.
“The highest rate of infant mortality comes from Pujehun. For every 1,000 children who die in the country, 300 of the statistics come from Pujehun District,” she added.
Mrs Bio called on parents to protect their children properly through constant monitoring and observation. According to her, Okada riders – as commercial bike riders are known locally – constitute the bulk of those who impregnate school going children in deprived communities.
“Children are the only guaranteed security if Pujehun is to develop,” she stressed.
The First Lady’s call for action against rape and other acts of sexual violence also extended to the law enforcement agencies, notably the police. She said the police Family Support Units across the country were full of “criminals” who frustrate efforts in fighting the menace.
The Chairperson of the occasion, Jeneba Kpaka Kpakanya Bangura, who is also the Deputy Commissioner General of the National Revenue Authority (NRA), noted that the Hands off our Girls campaign had confronted the bad culture of silence in communities and the possible consequence on girls in the district.
“As a woman - a mother, a daughter, and a sister – I am outraged! I am very angry as most men still continue to abuse and use our young girls, our babies as objects to satisfy their cowardly act,” Mrs. Bangura said.
Bangura noted that halfway into 2019, 1,051 rape cases were reported to the five centres operated by the Rainbow Initiative across the country.
The Rainbow Initiative is an organization that works to support victims of sexual violence like rape and sexual penetration.
In September, Parliament amended the Sexual Offences Act and imposed a minimum jail term of 15 years for perpetrators of rape. The tough new law also provides for a fine of Le 10 million or a jail term for people who attempt to compromise or settle sexual offence cases away from the legal system, a practice that is common in rural areas like Pujehun.
“We have passed a law in parliament to protect women and girls against any form of sexual violence and if anyone is caught going against this law, that person will go to jail for 15 years,” Dickson Rogers, a Member of Parliament from the district, reminded the people.
Madam Bio’s visit ended with community leaders in Pujehun giving their commitment to fighting rape and other sexual cases
© 2019 Politico Online
