SANNIQUELLIE, Nimba – Evald Delee is a pregnant 38-year-old woman who says her boyfriend, Dave Flomo, has refused to support her for the past two months.
She is now at the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection’s office in Sanniquellie to seek help in ensuring that Flomo supports her through her pregnancy. Delee says it only makes sense, as he had requested that she bear a child for him.
She says she had lived with Flomo for four years within the Underground Community in Sanniquellie.
Prior to the relationship, she sold table salt, soap, and other commodities in Monrovia and Sanniquellie to earn a living. When she met Flomo, he stopped her from traveling to Monrovia to trade because he feared she had a boyfriend in the capital city.
As a result, she lost all her money in the goods she had already purchased.
Now, as she is pregnant and Flomo has abandoned her, Delee complains that she is struggling to survive.
“I sometimes credit money from other people to eat… or sleep with hunger,’’ she says.
Nimba’s gender, children and social protection coordinator, Yaah Belleh Suah, says she sees cases similar to Delee’s too frequently. Since the beginning of 2016, Suah says her office has received about 100 cases of persistent non-support and abandonment of children. She now receives approximately 12 cases each day from across the county.
Persistent non-support is the term used by the Ministry of Gender to describe a parent refusing to support a child, while abandonment refers to a spouse deserting a wife or husband and children.
Nimba’s gender, children and social protection coordinator, Yaah Belleh Suah. Photo: Franklin Nehyalor
According to Suah, 20 percent of all cases are abandonment related while 80 percent can be classified as persistent non-support. Only three percent of those deserting their partners or children are women.
In Liberia, where gender roles are still distinct, men are generally viewed as the breadwinners while women tend to engage in homemaking activities in addition to a few income earning activities on the side.
In more remote counties like Nimba, the reduced access to education, credit, and land ownership, coupled with other cultural practices, ensure that few women are able to enter the workforce.
Suah says many of the men refusing to support their families cite financial constraints and the lack of jobs as reasons. Her office primarily ensures that the men return to supporting their families through mediation. However, 10 percent of the cases are sent to the Nimba’s county attorney for further intervention.
While the county has been able to resolve half of these cases through these means, Suah says there are currently still 42 children who have been abandoned by their parents. She is calling on the men who have left their families to realize that the law requires them to support their wives and children.
Featured photo by EC/ECHO/Anouk Delafortrie
