11 October 2012, Monrovia: A national retreat focusing on prevention of sexual abuse of children concluded in Monrovia today with a joint official declaration from the Government, civil society, and the UN for a comprehensive prevention and response plan that aims at aggressively combatting sexual abuse of children in Liberia within the next three years.

“I stopped being a child and started living in fear. Day in day out, night after night, the most unspeakable happened! He would sneak into my room and rape me. He abused me repeatedly until I could no longer control my bladder and bowels. Oh, how ashamed and helpless I felt!” said Sara (name changed), a 12 year old survivor of rape as she recounted her ordeal.

There are thousands of girls like Sara in Liberia who have suffered sexual violence. Cases of sexual gender based violence and rape remain alarmingly high in Liberia. Children are the victims and survivors of rape and sexual abuse in more than 60% of these cases, with majority of them below the age of 12 and sometimes as young as several months old. Over 3,500 sexual gender based violence cases were reported in the last 20 months, meaning at least 5 to 6 children or women are raped or suffer sexual violence every day in Liberia. Many cases are not reported at all to the police.

“There still appears to be a high culture of impunity – sexual abuse is not taken as a ‘big deal. Parents and family who do not report sexual abuse of their children should be brought to justice,” said the Minister of Gender and Development, Hon. Julia Duncan Cassel Minister Cassel.

A very large number of cases are settled out of the court due to the pressure of the families of alleged perpetrators or the inefficient legal system. Out of the cases reported in 2011 and 2012, only 1 percent of the perpetrators have been prosecuted to date. Only half of them, less than 15, were convicted, the rest acquitted.

“I was appalled by reports on the frequent rape of children in Liberia and the fact that there are such low levels of prosecution. This sends a message of a feeling of impunity among perpetrators, that there will be no serious consequences to their action. We must work together to strengthen our justice system to contain this terrible scourge against the most vulnerable section of our society,” said the UN DSRSG for Rule of Law Mr. Louis Aucoin. He commended the organizers for this timely retreat and stressed the importance of moving forward with comprehensive strategy and action plan to combat sexual abuse of children.

UNICEF’s officiating resident representative, Dr. Fazlul Haque stressed that true results and impact can only be achieved through systematic and collaborative efforts of all partners, communities and families. “Sexual violence against children is a gross violation of children’s rights and the worst of crimes. We have to combine our strengths - government actors, communities and families, youth and adolescents, religious and traditional leaders and the civil society to stop this worst crime against our children and society,” said Dr. Haque.

The support of traditional and religious leaders is crucial in the fight against sexual abuse of children. “We have the moral authority to raise awareness and move our people to take a stand to stop this violence against our children and women,” said Rev. St. John York from the Inter Religious Council of Liberia.

“People say that the war is over but the cleavages of war continue to affect our society. Rape happened during the war, but now it is at the level of an epidemic,” said the Minister of Justice, Hon. Christiana Tah. Also speaking to the forum, the Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia His Honor Justice Phillip Banks III said, “Criminal lawyers need specific training and expertise to handle such cases. I pledge the support of the entire judiciary to renew efforts to reduce sexual violence against children and women.”

During the retreat, participants who also included, judges, prosecutors and medical practitioners discussed and reviewed specific issues and challenges such as forensic evidence and protection of children who are witnesses. Other issues discussed were the need for empirical research data and a larger police force and women police officers.

Three key strategies for prevention and response to rape of children were identified based on the existing strategies, data, recommendations and findings from different studies including:

1. Prevention/Public outreach; 2. Protection through action by community/ traditional/religious leaders/parents; and 3. Protection through the formal legal system.

The National Taskforce on Sexual Gender Based Violence (SGBV) with the Government and the UN has led a number of interventions: the Rape law; amendment of the Penal Code; development of the GBV National Action Plan; the SGBV Joint Program; the establishment of the SGBV Crimes Unit and Criminal Court E. and several anti-rape campaigns. The three strategic outcomes from this retreat will further strengthen ongoing efforts and also introduce better and more effective prevention and response actions against sexual abuse of children.

“This retreat was a good beginning to renew and reenergize our partnership in the fight against sexual abuse of children. Now it’s time to roll up our sleeves and act,” said the UN Programme advisor for the GOL-UN GBV joint programme, Madhumita Sarkar.

Also, today, 11 October 2012, is the first International Day of the Girl Child. The Government, UN and civil society in Liberia commemorates this special day, with a solemn pledge to work harder together and find better and effective solutions to eliminate sexual abuse and exploitation of children, and girls in particular.

One of the first actions from the retreat will be the launch on 20 November 2012, Liberia Children’s Festival, of a sixteen-day nationwide campaign against child sexual abuse.

ADDENDUM

In 2002, WHO estimated that 150 million girls and 73 million boys under 18 years experienced forced sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual violence involving physical contact (United Nations study on violence against children). Millions more are likely exploited in prostitution or pornography each year. Yet the true magnitude of sexual violence is hidden because of its sensitive and illegal nature. Most children and families do not report cases of abuse and exploitation because of stigma, fear, and lack of trust in the authorities. Social tolerance and lack of awareness also contribute to under-reporting.

Concluding observations of the CRC Committee to Liberia on Sexual exploitation and abuse [5 October 2012]

49. The Committee welcomes the adoption of the Act to amend the Penal Code in 2006, called the Rape Law and commends the State party for establishing the Criminal Court, “Court E”, to handle cases of gender based violence, along with the specialized prosecution unit, in 2008. However, it remains gravely concerned that:

(a) Child rape and sexual offences are among the most commonly reported crimes in the State party, children are the majority of victims of sexual violence and the number of incidents of rape of girls under 12 years old has increased;
(b) A high number of cases are settled out of the court due to the pressure of the families of alleged perpetrators;
(c) Corrupt practices of judicial officials are an obstacle for victims seeking justice; and,
(d) The lack of sufficient investigative and forensic capacity remains a challenge.

50. The Committee urges the State party to:

(a) Take effective measures to enforce domestic laws that protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation, and to provide intensive training to police personnel, judiciary and professionals working with and for children on the related laws;
(b) Investigate effectively all cases of child sexual abuse and exploitation, including rape, in order to afford better protection for child victims, and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice and punished;
(c) Take active measures to discourage interference in the judicial process and prosecute and punish corrupt officials who obstruct justice in cases of sexual exploitation and abuse of children;
(d) Provide the Criminal Court and its Prosecution Unit with adequate support, including human, technical and financial resources to fulfil its role, and consider establishing branch offices at all county levels; and
(e) Establish an effective system of reporting with a child-sensitive inquiry and judicial procedure that protects confidentiality, and develop programmes and policies for the prevention, recovery and reintegration of child victims in accordance with the outcome documents adopted at the 1996, 2001 and 2008 World Congress against Sexual Exploitation of Children held in Stockholm, Yokohama and Rio de Janeiro.

For more information, please contact:

• Tetee C. Karneh, Communication Coordinator; Ministry of Gender and development Email: karneh@hotmail.com; Telephone #: +231-886-473-150
• Isabelle Abric, Chief of Public Information, UNMIL Email: abric@un.org; Tel: 0770319145
• Miraj Pradhan, Communication Specialist, UNICEF Liberia, Email: mpradhan@unicef.org, Telephone #: +231-770-267-110
• Seble Worku , Public Information Officer ,UNMIL Email ; seblewongel@un.org Tel 0770319157