MONROVIA, Montserrado – Vice President Joseph Boakai says women and girls continue to suffer gender-based violence at all sectors of the society. He made the statement on Friday June 5, 2015 at the launch of the HeForShe campaign in Monrovia.

The campaign, which UN Women launched in Liberia, seeks to spread awareness and spark action on the responsibility that men and boys have in eliminating all forms of violence and discrimination against women and girls.

According to Boakai, the widespread practice of early marriage and polygamy in Liberia contributes to some barriers women face.

He said women are still lagging behind in education, unlike their male counterparts. He pointed to the recent demographic health survey that reported that for every 100,000 live birth, 990 women died from pregnancy-related causes, and there are 117 teenage pregnancies per 1,000 live births.

Boakai further said the recent Ebola outbreak exacerbated the vulnerability of women adding the lasting impact of their livelihood and economic reliance is huge.

“Women were at higher risk of the Ebola infection, as the primary caregivers in the family for the sick, but right now their economic reliance is a problem,” Boakai said.

He said access to justice for women remained limited due to the difficult court processes, noting the negative attitudes of the Liberian law enforcers.

“Inadequate capacity to process caseloads at the courts hampers justice for women, particularly rural women who are vulnerable under Liberia’s dual legal system, which subjects them to wide range of unprotected legal regimes under customary law,” Boakai said.

The Vice President said the government will continue to play a critical role in promoting the empowerment of women in the country. He pointed to the various international agreements that Liberia has signed which call for the protection and empowerment of women.

He asked all male Liberians to join efforts in advancing women empowerment and social justice under the HeForShe campaign.

The UN Women Country Representative, Awa Ndiaye Seck, said the campaign has been designed to mobilize men and boys to stand up globally and take action for the achievement of gender equality.

She said international experience shows that countries do better when they empower women by providing them good health care, equitable job distribution, and equal representation, among other things.

Awa said gender equality is not about competition but partnership. “Today as we launch the campaign, we are taking a big step in getting men at the forefront and champions for half of the four million Liberian citizens,” she said.

She pledged the UN Women’s commitment to women’s empowerment and called on men to advance the HeForShe campaign.

Liberia has joined three other African countries to sign up for the HeForShe campaign. The countries include Kenya, South Africa, and Egypt. The goal for the campaign is to get four million men signing up to promote women’s rights and gender equality.

According to the last Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women report, 44% of women aged 15-49 experienced violence since the age 15. The report also said 29% have also experienced violence in the past twelve months, 18% have experience sexual violence in their lifetime and 10% state that their first sexual experience was against their will. The vast majority of the perpetrators, according to the report, were known to the victims.

Featured photo: Dominic Chavez/World Bank