SANNIQUELLIE, Nimba – Since 2017, 292 rapes were reported to the police, according to the deputy commander for the Women and Children Protection unit of the Liberia National Police in Nimba, George Zogon Cooper. Of that number, 87 are statutory rapes involving minors violated by adults as old as 70.
Cooper says this is a cause for alarm in Nimba yet the government has not been fast enough to ensure that rapists are brought to justice due to several challenges. Among these challenges, he says, is that the police do not have adequate support to transport perpetrators from their locations to Sanniquellie and that ends up compromising cases.
“It is the police’s responsibility to take care of the perpetrators by bringing them to justice, but it is difficult due to the lack of logistical support,†he said.
He added that many health workers at clinics in Nimba also do not give proper attention to rape victims; rather, they refer them to Sanniquellie simply because they do not want to testify in court in the future.
George Dayrell, who works in the county attorney’s office on cases related to sexual and gender-based violence, also said a high rate of corruption, poverty, and bribery is hindering the justice system in Liberia.
He said rapists who are booked by the police are often later seen moving around freely within the communities where they previously committed the crime. He says he does not know how this happens or who solicits their release. Most cases of rape are non-bailable under Liberian law.
The Eighth Judicial Circuit Court in Sanniquellie now has 68 rape cases in its docket for this August term of court and will need significant help to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.
Recognizing many of the issues with the justice system, the Rural Integrated Center for Community Empowerment, an NGO led by Salome Gofan, is establishing offices in Nimba to support the court system.
The organization is working in two districts in Nimba – Buu-Yao and Gbehlay Geh Statutory Districts – to support 35 survivors of rape, most of whom already have cases at the circuit court in Sanniquellie.
“Some of our rape survivors today have contracted HIV and AID, lost their reproductive system, died from rape,†she said.
She said the two districts were selected following assessments of police reports that showed that these districts were at risk when it comes rape cases, as many victims abandoned cooperating with individuals within the justice system to follow their cases.
Gofan said her organization would work with women groups in the two districts by providing training and support to create awareness in their communities and increase reporting rape cases to the justice system.
She said with her organization’s work, rape cases would no longer be settled secretly, where families are persuaded by chiefs to resolve the issue outside the court system, with little benefit to victims.
She urged all chiefs to not compromise rape cases and called on community dwellers to work collectively to ensure that rape is reduced in the county.
Gofan said her project was being supported by UNDP and UNMIL.
Featured photo by Franklin K. Nehyalor
