In Liberia: Rape Still Rampant

The alarming rate of GBV in the country worries the President

In her two-hour annual message to the second session of the 53rd Legislature delivered on Monday in Monrovia, President Johnson Sirleaf acknowledged the rise in gender-based violence, particularly child rape across the country. She described it as “alarming” and urged that Government worked along with partners to adopt a domestic violence law “to bring an end to these heinous crimes.”

This acknowledgment on the part of the President gives us enough reason to be worried because it makes it seems as though the enactment of the 2006 Rape Law, which calls for tougher punishment for rape convicts, has become a curse on women and girls rather than a blessing to prevent them from being abused in a variety of ways.

Rape was a common weapon used against women during Liberia’s decades of civil strife. Unfortunately, in contemporary Liberia, though there is relative peace, more rape cases are being reported across the country. Previously, there was no legislation against rape per se, though gang-rape was considered an offense.

To curb this horrible attack on women, women’s rights advocates led by the Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia (AFELL), drew up the rape bill in response to what they said was a growing number of rape cases and sexual assault against women. Under the new law, rape convicts can be sentenced to between seven years to life imprisonment, depending on the gravity of the crime. Any accused will not be granted bail under the law. The maximum sentence for first-degree rape is life imprisonment and 10 years for second-degree rape. The law does not specifically criminalize spousal rape.

And so, upon ascending to the Liberian presidency [in 2006], Ellen Johnson Sirleaf promised that no rapists would go unpunished during her tenure. But rape has continued to be a widespread problem in the post-war country. Seven years later, the President comes up to say that the rise in gender-based violence, particularly child rape across the country is “alarming.” Has the government FAILED to effectively enforce the rape law?

In swift response to a rape epidemic, Criminal Court “E” at the Temple of Justice, dedicated to prosecuting rape cases ONLY, was established. Sadly, this Court is limited to Montserrado County. It is inaccessible to a majority of the women dwelling in rural settlements around the rest of the country’s 14 counties. The U.S. 2010 Human Rights Report confirms this. Released April 8, 2011, the Report revealed that as mandated by the 2008 Gender and Sexually-Based Violence Bill, the special court for rape and other violence can exercise original jurisdiction over cases of sexual assault including abuse of minors exclusively in Montserrado County, which includes Monrovia.

So, how does the Sirleaf-Administration hope to curb the “alarming” rate of rape in the country without taking its fight against rape outside of Montserrado? It might be easily assumed that Criminal Court “E” will deal with rape cases from all over Liberia, not just in Monrovia. But how?

Scores of rural women have cried for the need to have a permanent presence of prosecutors devoted to rape cases in their reach to ensure that cases are handled without delay. They say they want such special courts to be established in all of Liberia’s 15 counties; they are being regularly abused but have no place to seek redress.

Reducing the Trauma

Also, the President announced in her annual message on Monday that the Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) Unit of the Prosecution Department has now introduced in-camera facilities in all 15 counties of Liberia. This, she said, allows minor children, who are victims of sexual abuse, to testify in court without being in the physical presence of the perpetrators. 

We believe that access to justice should not require any sexual assault victim to suffer needless additional trauma. And so, no matter the age, we think this service should be extended to victims of all ages. That will help make this newly introduced in-camera service a meaningful intervention that allows sexual assault victims [of all ages] to testify at trials, away from the physical presence of the defendant.

Many a time, rape victims, especially if the crime occurs in-family, are threatened to remain silent; swallow their agony and live with it. And if for any reason, a victim dares to dare the perpetrator by exposing the commission of the crime; such cases are most often settled out-of-court. Also, for fear of stigmatization and isolation, some adult rape victims are silenced.

This is why we think rape victims [of all ages] should be allowed to utilize the in-camera service if the evidence establishes that testifying in defendant’s physical presence would cause the victims to suffer serious emotional distress or other trauma and testifying from another room would mitigate that trauma.

It then becomes incumbent on prosecutors to push the courts to begin allowing the use of such procedures across the board: for the benefit and protection of minors (victims who are young enough to fit within the scope of a jurisdiction’s child testimony statute), adults, and even victims who are developmentally impaired.