Domestic violence is biggest threat to
West Africa's women, IRC says
‘Knowledge is power’
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He kicks me all over my body, but not my head." She described how her husband
withholds money from the family, leaving them without food.
The women in the church hall urged her to go to the government's gender ministry, but
Masue Horrace,
the head of the group, became angry, saying she had no faith in the country's justice
system. She desc-
ribed the story of her friend; how she had the courage to report her abusive husband,
but – because of
his family's connections, and as her friend had no money – nothing happened. "She
went to the law and t
he law can't even help her," Horrace said. "So you think if that happened to me, I will go
there too? No."
The IRC report recognises the challenges of the legal systems in Liberia, Sierra Leone
and Ivory Coast.
Establishing disciplined security forces after years of war is an enormous task for all
three governments. It
points to their "weak police forces", a "judicial infrastructure with limited reach outside of
the main cities"
and "hefty legal fees". In Liberia, irregular and low salaries for the police mean women
often have to pay
for the police officer's transport costs as well as their own. In some rural areas, fuel for
the generators at
police stations can be scarce – if there is a generator at all.
Ivory Coast adopted a three-year action plan in 2010 targeting violence against women
and girls. Liberia
and Sierra Leone also have gender-based violence plans of action but the report calls
for donors, UN ag-
encies and NGOs to increase funding to help the governments enforce these policies. It
applauds the adv-
ances made in protecting women and girls but said specialised services such as safe
houses, hotlines and
support groups are needed, claiming a focus on prevention is not enough.
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