By Abdul C. Dumbuya Jr.
I am the first of four boys to our parents and I’m 17 years old. Since I became conscious of listening to the radio, or watching TV or just picking up newspapers brought home by my dad, I have been constantly bombarded with news about sexual abuses in Sierra Leone.
At 17 I thought the problem would have been fixed. But sadly, it has not. Statistics show that rape and sexual offences are on the increase in the country.
As a young man, I have become concerned about this menace and couldn’t help it but ask these questions; What are we doing wrong as a society? Why are we failing our women and girls?
Throughout this piece, I will use plural personal pronouns because I feel a sense of responsibility that we can all do something to make the news better for women. It has been too much bad news. So, therefore, I wrote this essay as a first step to share my views.
Sexual harassment is often defined as an unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favours and other verbal or physical sexual advances. Such practices are becoming an increasing problem in Sierra Leone and men are the main perpetrators of such abuses and inhumane act that often leave the opposite sex; women, traumatized.
It was only a year ago on 8th February, 2019, that the president of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Bio, declared a State of Emergency over rape and sexual assault. Before the president made this pronouncement, it was reported that more than 8,500 cases of rape and sexual offences were recorded in 2018. This was a rise of nearly 4000 cases when compared with the figures from the previous year. This is alarming in a country of 7.5 million people.
In the year 2019, a 5-year-old was penetrated by her uncle and also a woman, who was an Ebola survivor, was raped multiple times. These incidences raised major concerns and there was a public outcry over them. These events in addition to previous grave offences triggered the president’s declaration of a state of emergency.
Sadly, I have noticed through observation that the public anger when a rape happened doesn’t usually last long. People tend to forget and move on, until the next victim is heard about. How long can we be doing this? Shouldn’t we get angry once and sustain the anger until we bring to an end these inhuman acts?
While women of different ages are victims of sexual harassment, according to the latest reports in the country, it is said that minors are mostly affected.
The burning question that remains unanswered is: what are the measures that government and society should put in place to end rape and sexual harassment in Sierra Leone beyond just being angry about the situation? I believe people must be angry, but practically what has been done?
To start with, the government is trying to bring down the number of sexual harassments down. I want to say that they should not only put laws in place but must also ensure that the laws are effectively implemented. Many of the cases that I have come across have been unsuccessful in court due to weaknesses in the laws and ineffective implementation. Many have escaped justice because of the weakness of the law. The recent action of the president to upgrade the punishment for a rapist to life imprisonment was a good approach in combating sexual harassment in the country. However, this improvement in the law has had little impact on the numbers so far. Cases are still being reported. This leaves us with the question: Are we going to experience the same lack of transparency and accountability for sexual offences all over again? We hope this improvement will not just be targeting a few people while the powerful go unpunished.
Furthermore, society itself has a great role to play in this fight. Yes, a fight! A fight against the disease called sexual harassment that has been affecting negatively the development of our beloved country, Sweet Salone. What are parents teaching their kids, both boys and girls? These kids are the ones that become adult rapists.
What lesson is the older generation leaving us the younger ones? Are we teaching any values to children? Where have our morals gone? I’m grateful to my parents who are doing a lot to impact morals into me and my three little brothers. These are all questions that deserve to be looked into. To be honest, it all boils down to two words “gender inequality.”
We live in a country, thinking out loud a continent, where women are made inferior to men. This culture of the superiority of men makes young boys feel they can get their way with women, including doing wrongful things, and get away with it. Well, these young men, got these ideas from older men through words and actions. These men themselves grew up with these ideas from boyhood. It’s like a cycle that never ends. But we can end it and the time is now. We must stop the blame game of the victims. When a rape happened, the families try to settle it at home instead of taking the matter to the authorities or some even cast the blame on the girl, saying “you tempted him.”
You see, we have all the laws now, but the laws are not enough to end sexual harassment and rape in this country. It takes the cooperation of everyone to end it; from the government implementing the laws to parents teaching their kids about consent and what it truly means.
I’m even proposing that these issues are included in the curriculum and taught in schools.
Abdul C. Dumbuya Jr. is an SS2 Science pupil at the Sierra Leone Grammar School
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