By: Sulaiman Karim Sesay
Agnes abandoned her marital home after she could no longer bear the constant economic abuse and psychosocial abuse she allegedly suffered from her husband.
She told us that she hadn’t any knowledge as to how he could find remedy with regards the law. She said she could not continue to live with Kalokoh and continue to starve and suffer from the economic hardship.
She disclosed that her husband constantly accused her of being a cheater and reasons he usually starve her and the kids at home, but claims her husband could not substantiate.
The last time Awoko Newspaper checked on Agness, she has already abandoned her marital home and had left town for Port Loko where she hails from.
Jeneba also had similar experience. She told Awoko that she had the slightest idea was what the law is with regards violence against women, but decided to leave her home and continue her life with her two children. Jeneba said she is now into petty trading and she loves it.
Press Secretary, Legal Aid Board, Moriba Kamara disclosed that they have a mechanism to protect women who suffers from economic and emotional violence from their spouses, adding that they receive victims of similar circumstance on a daily basis.
Kamara said LAB deals solely with cases that have to do with husbands who refuse to take care of their children and wife at home and fails to provide the basic social amenities at home (economic abuse).
He disclosed that men who put their women under economic abuse and psychosocial abuse are invited by the Board to pay maintenance fees for these women, failing which these men are dragged to the family court. “Victims of circumstance are provided with lawyer at no cost when the matter gets to court,” he revealed.
He said their mandate does not fall in the category of physical abuse, noting that it is the police that handle that aspect.
Deputy Minister of Gender and Children Affairs, Boaki Bindi Hindowa, disclosed that the Ministry has made enormous strides to address issues affecting women. Among these strides, he said, is the review of the Sexual Offences Act of 2019 as amended, the establishment of the Sexual Offences Model Court as well as the establishment of one stop centers across the country.
The Minister also spoke of a male involvement strategy which he said is aimed at getting the male onboard to help women enjoy their rights and live a dignified life.
The Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone (HRCSL), Narsu Patricia Ndema, said, it is but appropriate that the CEDAW was adopted. She said, women are subjugated and are being maltreated by their spouses at home.
Despite the plethora of conventions, such as the Maputo Protocol that protects both women and girls, there is also the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) which is an international treaty adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly.
Described as an international bill of rights for women, it was instituted on the 3rd September 1981 and has been ratified by 189 states.
Dzulaitu Hamid who heads the women wing of the Ahmed Tejan Kabbah Foundation for Peace Tolerance, and Democracy, believed that women should be self empowered through skill job or entrepreneurship.
She spoke highly of education among women just if they are to survive in politics. “Educating women on laws that protects them will be very crucial for women to survive in politics,” she said.
This story was put together with support from Journalists from Human Right (JHR) and the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ).
