As domestic violence on the increase… Govt Urged to Declare State of Emergency on SGBV
Due to the increase rate of domestic violence in the country, the government led by His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio have been urged to declare a state of emergency on Sexual Gender Based Violence in the country.
According to 2023 data from the Rainbow Initiative, one of the leading institutions documenting sexual assault and gender based in the country recorded about 2,561 SGBV cases.
The data shows that there is still high incident of SGBV and that the behaviour relating to sexual and Geder-based violence in country has not significantly changed.
Last week, the country was awakened by the alleged death of a young girl named Sia Kamara, who was working at the Mayor of Freetown Delivery Unit, was allegedly assaulted by her boyfriend.
In 2019, Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio declared an emergency on gender-based violence over the alarming rate of the social issue after her wife launched the Hands Off Our Girl’s Initiative
Over the plethora cases of domestic violence in the country; mostly resulting to deaths, the First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Her Excellency Dr. Mrs. Fatima Maada Bio who has played a pivotal role in the fight against domestic violence inflicted on women and girls have been put to the test.
The height of this alleged brutal act is becoming a norm to the present generation; as everyday a woman or a girl child is a victim of domestic violence. Many young ladies and women are currently in
the world beyond just like Sia and are shedding hurtful tears as a result of an act of domestic violence.
This past Sunday, 18th August 2024, another tragic act of domestic violence allegedly perpetrated by a renowned state man who is a former Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs Mustapha Bai Atilla reportedly injured his wife Monica Yealia Ghaliwa who is a lactating mother. It was further alleged that, the former Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs Mustapha Bai Atilla put his wife Monica Yealia Ghaliwa under house arrest with inhuman and degrading treatments.
This tragic news has caught the attention of both feminists’ campaigners and members of the public by demanding for justice for both late Sia Kamara and Monica Yealia Ghaliwa as a form of putting an end to domestic violence in the country, which has taken a toll.
It appears that the likes of the former Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs Mustapha Bai Atilla and other state’s men who have been accused of perpetrating domestic violence allegedly enjoyed the privilege of ‘selective justice’ which to some extent implies that they (the perpetrators) are been pampered to wreck more havoc on innocent women and children in the country and ended up in what can be referred to as ‘buff-case’.
Therefore, many have called on the First Lady of the republic of Sierra Leone, Her Excellency Mrs. Fatima Maada Bio to take tougher stance in the fight against domestic violence in the country. Most people want to see that the law is not being selective but rationale applied to all and sundry; irrespective of political connections, tribal or regional.
