Despite Peace Sexual Violence Rages On in Sierra Leone
When wars end they do not just end full stop, the death and destruction do not suddenly turn to peace and prosperity over night. Peace talks and cease fires alone do not end wars, people end wars and when all of the people cannot find them selves distanced from the war, then the war rages on. That is just the case in Sierra Leone, where Sex crimes continue in peacetime, some eight years later leaving social workers to fear that the situation is worse then during the conflict years.
“Some of the perpetrators were children during the war and were exposed to rape and sexual violence then and just carried on doing it”. “The highest numbers of cases come from areas where large numbers of ex-combatants are gathered.”
The extent of the use of rape as a weapon of war in Sierra Leone was so extreme that the rebel forces systematically rounded up girls and women, then took them to rebel command centers, where they were then individually and gang-rape. Those girls, especially the younger ones, who where deemed virgins, were especially targeted more than there older counterparts. Many of the younger girls also faced abductions by the rebels and where then repeatedly assaulted and raped. The countless victims of sexual assault and rape as a weapon of war in Sierra Leone will never be know, however the effects of the extreme levels of sexual assault and rape during the decade long civil war that saw civilians as the main target.
“We saw rape and sexual violence used as a tool during the war, and now it is morphing into this culture’s society as something that is understood and even accepted,” said Glasgow, head of the IRC.
Children are all to often being revictimized by their families after they have been raped, they are shunned, beaten, verbally abused, and many times even worse. A harsh fact Hannah Kargbo, a rape counselor, at the Rainbo Centre, a rape and gender-based violence counseling and health clinic in the capital Freetown, knows all too well.
“Parents tend to blame the children, saying they should not have let it happen to them. They don’t take into account the age difference – how is a four year-old child supposed to fight off a 40 year-old man?”…”The beatings are serious. They scald the children, shave their heads, and insert chili peppers into the vaginas. They beat them first to get an explanation of what happened, and then again as a punishment. ” (IRIN)
At Kargbo’s clinic over half of all of those treated for sexual abuse are between the ages of infancy and 15 years old, who are often raped by someone they know.
The situation in Sierra Leone shows the large gaps in both rehabilitation and reintegration programs, as well as to providing both community support, but also education on gender based violence. Additionally the increasing cases of rape in post conflict show that there is a significant need for in-depth and qualitative studies on the scope and depth of the long-term effects of rape as a weapon of war not only on its victims, but also on the perpetrators themselves. It is clear that this data would prove substantial in the prevention of its use, as well as understanding the long-term effects on society.
The beginning of the end of the use of rape as a weapon of war is to combat gender inequalities and stereotypes in cultures while in peace time, as a method to prevent and curb the use of rape as a weapon of war. Removing the stigma of rape is the first and foremost crucial step to see that the ripple effects do not continue to haunt our global society in future generations and centuries.
Please see my other post such as Ending Sexual Violence, a Global Priority and War’s Sexual Violence Towards Girls
For more information please see:
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) study, War-Related Sexual Violence in Sierra Leone
Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, Getting Away with Murder, Mutilation, and Rape
June 30th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Great post on a very timely and important issue. All too often, I think people feel like the end of war brings peace and prosperity for all. But in reality, the aftershocks of war continue to reverberate for a good long while.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Highly contentioius, not to mention spurious. Rape and violence against women is a worldwide, nasty disease. I am seriously unconvinced that in Sierra Leone it has anything to do with being a legacy of the war. I think this is lazy thinking. What is responsible for the rise in those countries where there has been no war? Unfortunately, as it’s about an African country, these words are likely to be taken at face value. I would say “approach with caution and dig a lot deeper.
June 30th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Ade,
While I appreciate your skepticism regarding rates of rape in postwar Sierra Leone, I disagree that it’s a case of “lazy thinking.” Certainly, people do tend to overblame the deplorable state of Sierra Leone on the war but in the case of rape and gender violence, I’m willing to concede that IRIN may be on to something.
After all, rape was widespread during the war and the social and juridical mechanisms that would protect women from rape in peacetime are still lacking in Sierra Leone, having been seriously undermined and disrupted during the war. Moreover, many of the men involved in wartime rape are still on the loose. It’s possible that the habits they learned in wartime—and in many cases as child soldiers—are dying hard.
Of course, you’re absolutely right to question the causes of the increases in other countries that have not been affected by war. Because violence against women is always a multi-faceted problem with multiple causes, you’re right that war is not the sole cause. But in the case of Sierra Leone, it’s hard to argue that the war’s impact on especially law enforcement and the justice system has not contributed to an increase in rapes.
At the end of the day, the Sierra Leonean government will need to do a lot to rebuild the social and legal infrastructure, with special attention focused on prosecution and punishment of rape. After all, knowing that they can get away with rape probably does little to deter would-be rapists, so in the absence of a reliable prosecutorial system . . . well, you do the math.
July 1st, 2008 at 12:15 am
Dear Ade,
Thank you for your readership and your comments and views on this issue.
While I do appreciate your view point and I defeinatly do agree with you that “Rape and violence against women is a worldwide, nasty disease”. However I would have to disagree that it has “nothing” to do with the war, especailly as many of those committing rapes in post-conflict used rape as a weapon of war.
Yes, it is true that not all the rapes will be a result of the civil wars legacy. However the evidence that a disporoportinate number of sexual violence cases are related to those who participated or where effected by the attrocities of rape and sexual violence during times of conflict, including abuses committed as an effort to shun or reject a survivor of such crimes. It goes without saying that much attention needs to be paid to the long term effects of rape on the perpertrator, and that little effors have been put into place thus far.
The high levels of rape and sexual violence against women and girls in non-conflict countries is heavily related to gender descrimination and bias, of which I have referenced in a number of post on this site. My comments on why its on the increase in countries where there is no war is that it is mainly caused by gender discrimination and stressing the need for education and advocacy campaigns….I have writen on this in a number of previous posts. The silence and impunity of such crimes only gives fuel for thier continuation and increase.
Thank You,
Cassandra
July 1st, 2008 at 12:29 am
Abdul,
Thank you for your comments and incite into the subject. I am glad you brought up the issue that, “…violence against women is always a multi-faceted problem with multiple causes…” you are absolutly correct and that is why considerably more needs to be done to evaluate the situation of genderbased and sexual violence in each contry and see that we do not apply a one size fits all solution to the issue.
I am greatful to see you transforming both your and Ade’s comments into a discussion. Dialog is a key factor to ending sexual violence in conflict, post-conflict and non-conflict states. I am happy to hear more view points from both yourself, Ade and others on this issue.
Best,
Cassandra
July 14th, 2008 at 2:38 am
[…] Sadly the increase of sexual exploitation of women and children Kenya is not an isolated case, as high instances of sexual exploitation, trafficking and rape are seen in many post conflict countries. One such case can be seen in my recent post on Sierra Leone, Despite Peace Sexual Violence Rages On in Sierra Leone. […]