By Amin Kef Sesay
It has now been two years since the Hands Off Our Girls was launched by President Julius Maada Bio in December 2018 and within this period much has gone under the bridge. When the initiative was launched, President Bio made it clear that as part of its human capital development agenda it is imperative to protect and educate young girls in order to achieve their full potentials.
The launch of the Hands Off Our Girls saw First Ladies from several African countries join in a peaceful protest march against rape in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The peaceful protest March was 100% spearheaded by our First Lady, Her Excellency Fatima Maada Bio working with the Ministry of Gender. This was the first time in the world, that there was a unified voice in the fight against rape. A position note was handed to the then Attorney General to make the Judiciary step up their fight against rape.
Since the launch much has happened including: For the first time in Africa, a national emergency on rape was declared by the President of the Republic in 2019, the Sexual Offences Act was amended in September 2019, a Presidential Task Force was set up to deal with SGBV in 2020 and the Sexual Offences Model Court was established in July 2020.
As a matter of fact, the collaboration that has so far taken place between Government and Non-Governmental Organizations in Sierra Leone has been unprecedented. There is now a unified strategy in the fight against SGBV with emphasis on rape which has led to an increase in the reporting of SGBV cases because women feel more confident.
According to the Office of the First Lady the entertainment industry has always had a lackluster attitude towards the fight against rape. It continued that fortunately, there are few artists that have produced songs and films as their contributions, but as a unified body, they are simply not interested unlike other organizations.
It furthered that the industry is becoming notorious for compromising serious rape allegations by going on social media to accuse the alleged perpetrators; taking the law into their own hands and bluntly refusing to report such serious allegations to the Police.
Many have commended the President for his extreme seriousness in dealing with SGBV (Sexual and Gender Based Violence), and when there are alleged cases of rape, it will be fully investigated by the Family Support Unit of the Police Force.
The Inspector General himself joined the First Lady on a peaceful march against SGBV in December, and again the IG joined members of the Family Support Unit in a peaceful protest march against SGBV.
The Office of the First Lady continued that it is unfortunate that the entertainment industry takes the issue of rape as an issue they can use conveniently in their “beefing” or feud to promote themselves.
According to them it is a criminal offence to protect an individual by deliberately refusing to report details of a rape case to the Police. They said the compromise on the part of the entertainment industry, greatly undermines the great strides made in the fight against SGBV in Sierra Leone.
More importantly, it was underscored that it sends out the wrong message, that if you have a rape case it is better to resolve it on Facebook and not involve the Police.
The Office of the First Lady maintains that most entertainers are seen as role models and if their actions clearly go against reporting serious rape allegations to the Police, their fans will believe that is the right thing to do.
It said it is important to note that the Presidential Task Force on SGBV, coordinated by the Office of the First Lady, of which the Police is an integral part, will not tolerate anyone undermining the fight against rape.
The Office of the First Lady said that the Inspector General of Police was very clear in his meeting with the Heads of FSU a few months ago saying there will be absolutely no sacred cows.
It continued that the perpetrators and those trying to compromise or settle the case outside court will be severely dealt with adding that it is evident that there are members within the entertainment industry who are trying to come together to “discuss” the issue, and settle it amongst themselves adding that for their information that is a criminal offence.
It was highlighted that the First Lady will not tolerate rape in any shape or form, and the perpetrators or those trying to compromise the case will face the full weight of the law.
The Office of the First Lady underscored that the culture of rape needs to be dealt with by changing the mindsets of people. To that end, President Bio said the Task Force should develop a full-fledged preventive programme for SGBV, it was stated.
According to them the Entertainment industry should not be afraid to report cases of SGBV and should encourage others to do so.
The Office of the First Lady concluded that the “Hands Off Our Girls” initiative should be owned by all because a multi-sectoral approach makes the solution proffered more effective.
