By: Amnesty International
This article is republished with the permission of its original publisher Amnesty International.
“When women asked the president for an apology for victims of sexual violence from the war and he refused, it sent the wrong message.”
NGO staff
“When the war ended, NGOs and the UN made it known to the government that we were prepared to fund or provide services for reparations. The government never asked. It sent the wrong message.”
UN staff in Sierra Leone
“When the government responded to the … TRC recommendations with a white paper instead of just taking steps to implement them, it sent the wrong message. “
UNIOSIL staff
I. Introduction
Six years after the end of the conflict in Sierra Leone, little has been done to ensure that survivors of sexual violence receive justice, acknowledgement of their suffering, or full, meaningful and effective reparations. The unimaginable brutality of violations committed against up to a third of Sierra Leone’s mostly rural women and girls has been well documented; however the government
has failed to effectively address the physical, psychological and economic
impact of these crimes on the survivors. Without justice, recognition of the
crimes or effective programmes to ensure their rehabilitation, without help to
rebuild their lives or steps being taken to ensure that they are protected from
future crimes, the suffering of the women and girls continues.
Amnesty
International interviewed women and girls who have employed many strategies to
survive, both during the conflict and in its aftermath. For them, sexual
violence was not a single event but a violation that has continued in the
absence of comprehensive measures to deal with it. Along with the sexual
violence, many identified themselves as former ‘rebel wives’, which also
contributed to isolation and exclusion. As a result, many have had difficultly accessing
food, shelter, work and healthcare. The continuing discrimination they have
faced has impeded their reintegration into the community.
These women and
girls expressed a desire for justice and meaningful reparations not out of
revenge but simply to enable them to become economically independent and begin
to re-establish their lives free from fear, stigma and discrimination.
A reparations
programme recommended by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in its
2004 report includes specific measures for victims of sexual abuse. This provides
the government with new opportunities to ensure that victims can finally begin
to address the damage that has been done to them. Lessons learned from efforts
at reintegration reveal that the needs of women and girls have not been
adequately met. These lessons must be
incorporated into the reparations programme, which requires the active
participation of its beneficiaries if it is going to be designed to meet their
needs.
In order to
address the complex social and individual impact of sexual abuse, the
reparations must be provided in a context that seeks to prevent future
violence, addresses the deep-seated discrimination against women, promotes
equality and improves women’s status.
All victims and
survivors of crimes against humanity, war crimes and other serious violations
of international human rights and humanitarian laws are entitled to justice and
reparations. This report focuses specifically on reparations for survivors of
sexual abuse, which mainly affects women and girls from rural areas in Sierra Leone. Amnesty International examines the social and individual effects of sexual violence, the failure of the government to provide measures to address its impact, including justice and reparations, and the need for the government to implement a comprehensive and effective reparations programme to get reparations right for victims of sexual violence.
For the entire article, please see: Download sierra_leone_getting_reparations_right.pdf
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