How is it that we declared rape a national emergency in 2020, but are still faced with a huge rape outbreak causing many young women their lives in 2022? In September 2020, President Weah declared rape a National Emergency after thousands of Liberians took to the streets for three days demanding actions from the national government to curtail the outbreak of sexual abuse and harassment against women and girls in the country. This was one moment in our history that Liberians united for a cause.
Many of us were tired of seeing infants raped to death, even less so our sisters and mothers. They died with their rights and bodies being violated. They pleaded for help, but there was none available. No protection. No support. No healthcare. No justice. No leadership. None of these were available to them, and even in their deaths, they are yet to get justice!
When we heard the proclamation made by the president declaring rape a national emergency, we felt a bit of relief. We thought that a stand had been taken and the powers that be had finally decided to go to war with this epidemic and defeat it for once. Unfortunately, it was the other way around.
Since rape was declared a national emergency, it has been given even less attention by the president and officials of government. I am very disappointed in the president and the Liberian legislature. They have failed women and girls in this country. There’s absolutely no vision for the protection of women and children in Liberia. Year in and out, they continue to be vulnerable. They are at high risk in our society, yet we don’t see their protection as a priority.
Unfortunately, the survivors of sexual abuse still live in those communities they were abused in with their perpetrators under fear and trauma. They are lacking every support that should be given to a survivor. But our leaders are more concerned with power. I am still in disbelief.
Police stations and clinics in rural communities lack the mobility to either do follow-up cases or quickly get survivors to the nearest health facility to seek medical treatment. Such a lack of action by the president is an affront to our people, especially our mothers and sisters who are victims and survivors of sexual abuse.
It is disheartening that the president has not invested money to strengthen our fragile healthcare system to treat survivors of sexual abuse with urgency, or provide logistical support to our security apparatus to help in supporting people affected by this nightmare of rape. Isn’t this a display of how little women and girls are valued and respected? How is it that the president who is loved by the people is more concerned with power than the safety of the people who elected him?
We still have time. At this point, Mr. President, we need leadership. We need you and your cohort to effectively implement the 2020 roadmaps that were designed by your government and stakeholders to end rape in the country. We need robust actions and support from your government now in order to curtail the current waves of sexual abuse in the country. Women and girls deserve a safe space where they can happily live and pursue their dreams. Enough is ENOUGH!
Authored by Delton Domah
