Sierra Leone: Aid organizations promote media awareness as a tool against sexual violence

Last week, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) organized a workshop in Freetown to discuss the issue of sexual violence in Sierra Leone and ways in which the media could serve a positive role in drawing attention to the matter.

In addition to raising media attention for sexual violence, efforts to bring justice for war crimes in Sierra Leone have seen an increase recently. On 22 February 2010, Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon announced the appointment of Brenda Joyce Hollis as the new prosecutor for the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), a joint tribunal established by the Sierra Leone government and the United Nations, which acts to bring justice for war crimes committed during the civil war in Sierra Leone over the last 12 years.

Hollis leads the prosecution against former Liberian president Charles Taylor for crimes against humanity and for the 275,000 reported cases of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) that occurred in Liberia and Sierra Leone during the civil war. However, despite legal progress made by the SCSL, no convictions have resulted from the 1,543 domestic violence reports and 927 sexual abuse cases that occurred just last year. Maria Butler, who is the project associate for the UN Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (UNFPA) told MediaGlobal, “The impact of sexual violence on women, communities, and the society has been overwhelming in this West African nation. National, United Nations, and civil society efforts have been welcome, however, more needs to be done to protect and promote women’s participation in all communities of Sierra Leone.”

According to an 2000 Amnesty International report titled “Sierra Leone: Rape and other forms of Sexual Violence against Girls and Women,” the occurrence of SGBV has been systematic and widespread. Rape, abduction, sexual slavery, and other forms of sexual violence have been prevalent in Sierra Leone for the duration of the armed conflict. Acts of sexual violence usually involve rebel forces, most of them members of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC). Sexual violence of this nature can often result in physical injury, forced pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and death.

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), an organization that investigates gender-based violence in sub-Saharan Africa, also agrees that increasing media awareness is vital in combating the problem. Suzannah Sirkin, deputy director of PHR told MediaGlobal, “The use of media, especially radio, is a powerful tool to break through the isolation, stigma and silence surrounding sexual violence in West Africa and elsewhere. Perpetrators need to know that impunity will end as more survivors and their communities mobilize to stop rape— first by speaking out —and then by pressing for meaningful redress, including prosecution.”

In a December 2009 report conducted by the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), in collaboration with the UN Response to Rape Group, researchers found that only 12.5 percent of rape cases were reported to the police. Furthermore, the United Nations found that only 34 percent of sexual violence cases were reported in the rural communities compared to 68 percent in urban areas. Sirkin told MediaGlobal, “Survivors of sexual violence need information about access to medical care, about their rights to reparation, and how to connect to others to assert these rights and gain support. The media needs to give voice to survivors in a manner that does not sensationalize their plight, but rather asserts their fundamental dignity.”

Human rights organizations are hoping that with increasing media attention, sexual and gender based violence will be taken more seriously by the government and also by the communities that are affected. Butler told MediaGlobal “Effectively addressing sexual violence in Sierra Leone demands a holistic approach that includes taking into account issues of prevention, protection, women’s participation, and access to services for survivors of sexual violence.”

- February 25, 2010 by Rachel Pollock

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Source: www.mediaglobal.org/article/2010-02-25/aid-organizations-promote-media-awareness-as-a-tool-against-sexual-violence (accessed on 26.02.10)