By Karifa Kello Thoronka
Forced marriage is an abuse of human rights, it occurs within diverse cultures, traditions, and religions in Sierra Leone with or without the approval of the individual. This press engage in an exclusive interview with one Benrina Kanu. a resident of Hasting, Eastern part of Freetown.
During the interview, Benrina share her story of domestic violence highlighting the often hidden struggles faced by many women in her community. ‘Life was not easy for me, I was going through verbal, physical and emotional abuse from one Afred Brima’ she said with tears in her eyes. Benrina Kanu. continue by narrating that since when she was a teenager, she was forced to marry Alfred as tradition demand.
At the age of 12 years, I thought it was fun so I did not reach out to anyone about it’ she said. In her quest to pursue her education and to flee from his constant beating, rape, and torture Benrina Kanu. was offered a scholarship to pursue her secondary and tertiary education in the capital city. Despite the distance between the two Alfred Brima keeps sending threats to Benrina while she pursues her education regarding marriage, this plus the previous abuse and torture that she endured in her formative years as a teenager negatively impacted her mentally, emotionally, and academically.
After graduating in 2012 with a division three (3) from the University of Sierra Leone, her past encounter did not deter her from pursuing her dreams and aspirations, she was later employed by the government of Sierra Leone under the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources in 2014. Five years later she was offered a 2 years scholarship by the Fulbright Program to pursue her postgraduate degree in the United States of America. Few weeks after she returned from her postgraduate studies, Alfred Brima attacked her and beat her severely on the premises where she traveled with another man out of the country. He further sent thugs to her home, which was vandalized, some of her personal effects carted away and documents destroyed.
In order to keep the media aware of the incident, Secret Societies and Women’s Access to Justice a local organization in Sierra Leone sent letter to all media houses to focus on the issue, since the Government is seeing it as a no go area because of tradition. The organization conducted one on one interviews with the victim and it is convinced that there is a need for legal intervention from concerned organizations. Until press time, there is a constant pattern of harassment and abuse from Alfred Brima, if left unchecked might lead to a fatal outcome for the young promising woman. One Fatmata Sesay a close Neighbor to Benrina noted that the physical and emotional abuse at the hands of Alfred gives them a clear picture of the pain and torture she has endured since childhood.
Fatmata ended by calling on policy makers, and media houses to increase awareness and make support services accessible for survivors of domestic violence. Gender-based violence is a serious issue that affects people from all works of life.