By Foday Moriba Conteh
In commemorating this year’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence on the theme: “Orange the World: End Violence Against Women Now!” which is an annual international campaign that kicks off on the 25th November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and runs up to the 10 December which is International Human Rights Day, a local Non-Governmental Organization, One Family People in collaboration with the United Nations Population Funds (UNFPA) with support from Liliane Fonds, on Thursday 2nd December, 2021 held a one-day consultative conference on the Rights of Women and Girls living with disabilities. The event was held at the United Nations Population Fund Office on New Signal Hill Road, Off Congo Cross in Freetown.
Giving an overview of the event, the Operations Director at One Family People, Hadiatou Diallo stated that every year, the One Family People observes the 16 Days of Activism differently but said this year they decided to join UNFPA and the Dutch Liliane Fonds to observe the 16 days with series of activities, ranging from radio, TV and community engagements in schools and communities and a consultative conference.
She maintained that according to the UN, one in three women experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime and in Sierra Leone, an estimated 62 per cent of women age 15–49 have experienced physical or sexual violence, according to the 2019 SLDHS which she said is unacceptable and reminded all of the need to redouble their efforts.
Hadiatou Diallo lamented that gender based violence (GBV) against women and girls with disabilities is a significant issue that is related to gender and disability-based discrimination and exclusion, adding that these two factors combined, result in an extremely high risk of violence against women and girls with disabilities furthering that despite this high risk, there is a lack of information regarding the experiences of abuse, and barriers to seek and get help among women and girls with disabilities.
The Operations Director pointed out that the conference seeks therefore to highlight the experiences of women and girls with disabilities to GBV, map out services offered to survivors with disabilities, analyze major gaps and challenges related to service delivery and identify the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders and service providers towards ending gender based violence against women and girls especially those living with disabilities.
In her statement, the Gender Specialist at United Nations Population Funds, Betty Alpha, commended the One Family People for their continuous strides towards the development of persons living with disabilities across the country.
She said that 2021 marks the 30 years anniversary of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence which she said runs from the 25thNovember, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women to the 10 December which is Human Rights Day.
Betty Alpha revealed that UNFPA Global conducted a research of which it was revealed that during the COVID-19 pandemic there has been an upsurge in gender-based violence especially during lockdowns, adding that UNFPA in commemorating this year’s 16 days of activism is focusing now on online violence because it is becoming more apparent that young girls are been abused on social media.
She concluded by saying at UNFPA they work on three transformative goals which includes zero preventable maternal death, zero gender-based violence and harmful practices and zero unmet need for family planning. She reiterated their commitment towards supporting Government and other organizations that relate to their mandate.
On his part, the Line Manager at FSU-CID Headquarters, Inspector Foday Conteh, said that the Family Support Unit was established over twenty (20) years ago with the mandate to prevent and respond to the growing incident of Gender-Based Violence in the country during and after the aftermath of the civil war, adding that initially the unit started as a pilot phase at Kissy Police Station.
He maintained that presently the FSU has the broader mandate to investigate all incidents of sexual and gender based violence across the country especially incidences that have to do with children caught in conflict and in foul with the law.
The Line Manager noted that in achieving their mandate the unit collaborated with both international and local organizations of which they are very happy for the moves taken by the One Family People to hold a consultative conference on the Rights of Women and Girls living with disabilities which he described as a move in the right direction in ending gender based violence against women and girls especially those living with disabilities in the country.
Delivering a statement on behalf of the Minister of Social Welfare, the Assistant Director of Planning in the Ministry, Ms. Fatmata E.R Ansumana, stated how it is very crucial and timely for all to embark on robust advocacy strategies for the Rights of disabled women and girls to be strengthened by publicly committing people at all sectors.
Ms. Fatmata E.R Ansumana stated that “Nothing about us without us” is more than a slogan in the disability community of which she called for the inclusion of qualified people with disabilities in leadership positions.
She concluded by stating that in the fight of advocating for the rights of disabled women and girls it is high time they try to collaborate, coordinate their interventions for the general good of all for which she commended the One Family People for always moving in that direction.
Through the focus group discussion which climaxed the event, participants were required to highlight their experiences of abuse, map out services offered to survivors with disabilities, identify the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders and service providers in view to help guide a collective path forward.
