By Umaru Fofana
Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs, Manty Tarawally says the much-needed forensic laboratory will soon be set up in Sierra Leone.
Speaking to Politico, she said “We have put together a committee. And they’re actually working towards the end of year or first quarter next year” to set it up.
Ms Tarawally said it was a highly technical project with different components needing to be put together or considered when doing this.
“We’ve put together a good team and we are doing research. It needs to be from an accredited lab to support another accredited lab in Sierra Leone”, she said, adding that the team were already working “round the clock…so that we can meet the deadline”.
On funding for the lab, Ms Tarawally said that had bene secured, “and so it’s just to get the right component and lab that can work for us. Because when you talk about forensic lab it’s not just for SGBV – it could be for a wide range”.
She said they wanted to “only do what we have money for. Just do something that can work for SGBV. And the police and other people that want to use forensic lab can build upon that. So that’s what we’re working towards”.
The gender minister stressed the extreme need for a forensic lab amid the several cases of rape of women and children. “The major component that is missing from the structure that we have right now is the credibility of evidence. And so far what we haven’t been able to put together very well and that is what the forensic lab will do” she said.
She said that “from talking to the lawyers, talking to the judiciary that is the bit that is missing. How do you prove that this particular person is the person that raped this individual? You can prove that this person has been raped but how do you link it to an actual person, that particular person. And I think only a forensic lab can do that”, she added.
Thousands of women and girls are raped in Sierra Leone every year. Alarming a sthe numbers may be, they are only captured in the few available centres run by the Rainbo Initiative.
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