By Septimus Senessie in Kono
The Rainbow Center at the Koidu Government Hospital in Kono District says it has registered over 290 rape cases within 11 months (January to November 2013) making it the highest ever recorded.
The Women's Protection & Empowerment Programme Site Manager of International Rescue Committee in the district, Dominic Andrew Boima said “this figure is the highest since the establishment of the centre by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in 2003.” The figures were revealed during a meeting at the Koidu Government Hospital where the transition of the rainbow centre to local ownership was discussed among other things.
Boima said that in 2012, the centre registered about 289 rape and rape-related cases of which "about 80 percent were compromised" by parents of the alleged rape victims and the Family Support Unit (FSU) at the Tankoro Police Division. He described the compromise of such cases as “a barricade in the fight against rape in the district,” noting that they had registered over 9,000 cases of alleged sexual violence reported by victims since 2003.
Giving the rationale for the transfer of the rainbow centre to local management, Boima said the IRC would not continue to be in the country forever and that an initiative like that should not die after the exit of the IRC from the country in some years to come.
He pointed out that since the establishment of the Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) now known as Rainbow Centres in Kono, Kenema and Freetown, rape victims in those operational areas were among other services provided with medical examination, care, information, referrals and assistance to survivors of sexual violence and other related forms of gender-based violence. He noted that IRC would give a two-year financial support to the new management to enable them continue the same job in those centres when the IRC would have left the country.
Speaking to Politico at his FSU office at Tankoro Police Division, Sergeant Tamba Lebbie Keimbay dismissed the claims made by IRC as "fabricated and unfortunate." He said however that some family members do meet them at the office to ask for negotiated settlement of the alleged cases and they were left with no option but to go by the requests of those family members.
Keimbay said that at times victims as young as 16 years would tell them that they were ashamed of appearing in court. "We facilitate negotiations of the matter because we want to protect their identity", Keimbay said.
When asked about the case of the soldier who allegedly raped his colleague’s 15-year old daughter at the 9th Infantry Battalion in Simbakoro, Kono District, Sgt Keimbay said the matter was reported to them but was later withdrawn to be “negotiated by the parents.”
Meanwhile, the CEO of the locally-managed Rainbow Centre, Sarata Nyamacoro Sillah, has assured the people of Kono that they will take full control of the centre in January next year and that they will be operating fully as an independent organization that will continue to provide essential support to survivors of rape and other related violence committed across the country. She called on the government and other organizations to support the centre after funding from the IRC would have run out.
Mayor of Koidu, Saa Emerson Lamina thanked IRC for their timely intervention in the fight against sexual and gender-based violence and the various support they had been providing to restore their "lost dignity" in society. He said the central government was serious in the fight against violence against women through policies and laws like the three Gender Acts of 2007 and the Sexual Offences Act of 2012. He pledged his council’s unflinching support to the fight against sexual violence and to pursue perpetrators of the crimes.
(C) Politico 26/11/13
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By Septimus Senessie in Kono
The Rainbow Center at the Koidu Government Hospital in Kono District says it has registered over 290 rape cases within 11 months (January to November 2013) making it the highest ever recorded.
The Women's Protection & Empowerment Programme Site Manager of International Rescue Committee in the district, Dominic Andrew Boima said “this figure is the highest since the establishment of the centre by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in 2003.” The figures were revealed during a meeting at the Koidu Government Hospital where the transition of the rainbow centre to local ownership was discussed among other things.
Boima said that in 2012, the centre registered about 289 rape and rape-related cases of which "about 80 percent were compromised" by parents of the alleged rape victims and the Family Support Unit (FSU) at the Tankoro Police Division. He described the compromise of such cases as “a barricade in the fight against rape in the district,” noting that they had registered over 9,000 cases of alleged sexual violence reported by victims since 2003.
Giving the rationale for the transfer of the rainbow centre to local management, Boima said the IRC would not continue to be in the country forever and that an initiative like that should not die after the exit of the IRC from the country in some years to come.
He pointed out that since the establishment of the Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) now known as Rainbow Centres in Kono, Kenema and Freetown, rape victims in those operational areas were among other services provided with medical examination, care, information, referrals and assistance to survivors of sexual violence and other related forms of gender-based violence. He noted that IRC would give a two-year financial support to the new management to enable them continue the same job in those centres when the IRC would have left the country.
Speaking to Politico at his FSU office at Tankoro Police Division, Sergeant Tamba Lebbie Keimbay dismissed the claims made by IRC as "fabricated and unfortunate." He said however that some family members do meet them at the office to ask for negotiated settlement of the alleged cases and they were left with no option but to go by the requests of those family members.
Keimbay said that at times victims as young as 16 years would tell them that they were ashamed of appearing in court. "We facilitate negotiations of the matter because we want to protect their identity", Keimbay said.
When asked about the case of the soldier who allegedly raped his colleague’s 15-year old daughter at the 9th Infantry Battalion in Simbakoro, Kono District, Sgt Keimbay said the matter was reported to them but was later withdrawn to be “negotiated by the parents.”
Meanwhile, the CEO of the locally-managed Rainbow Centre, Sarata Nyamacoro Sillah, has assured the people of Kono that they will take full control of the centre in January next year and that they will be operating fully as an independent organization that will continue to provide essential support to survivors of rape and other related violence committed across the country. She called on the government and other organizations to support the centre after funding from the IRC would have run out.
Mayor of Koidu, Saa Emerson Lamina thanked IRC for their timely intervention in the fight against sexual and gender-based violence and the various support they had been providing to restore their "lost dignity" in society. He said the central government was serious in the fight against violence against women through policies and laws like the three Gender Acts of 2007 and the Sexual Offences Act of 2012. He pledged his council’s unflinching support to the fight against sexual violence and to pursue perpetrators of the crimes.
(C) Politico 26/11/13
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