VZCZCXRO5514
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHDK #0032/01 0131138
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 131138Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1677
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 000032 
 
DEPT FOR AF/W, AF/EPS, AF/RSA, DRL/AE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI SG
SUBJECT: Senegal: Rape on the Rise 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Senegalese women's associations are mobilizing in 
support of a draft law to criminalize rape.  After achieving notable 
successes in gaining parity on gender issues such as schooling for 
girls and allowing a woman to pay her family's medical expenses when 
her husband is unable to do so, women's groups have now turned their 
attention to improving domestic living conditions.  Many 
demonstrations have taken place around the country as activists work 
to sensitize people to the problem of domestic violence in all its 
forms; physical, mental, and verbal.  However, according to media 
and civil society reporting, rape remains commonplace.  What's more, 
rape within a household by a family member is barely reported for 
fear of reprisal.  End summary. 
 
The Increase in Rapes is Causing Fear 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) In late November 2008 numerous women's groups staged angry 
demonstrations to protest Senegal's intolerable level of domestic 
violence.  In Senegal, a girl, a boy, or a woman is raped almost 
every day.  According to GRAVE (Research and Action Group against 
Women and Children's Violence), an NGO working to eradicate domestic 
violence, some 400 rapes occurred in 2007.  From January to November 
2008, 195 cases of rape and sexual abuse were documented by APROFES, 
a women's NGO based in Kaolack, Central Senegal.  In discussions 
with CLVF (The Committee to Combat Domestic Violence) and RADI 
(African Network for Integrated Development), they noted the high 
number of rape victims coming for counseling every day.  There are 
newspaper reports of at least one case of rape per day.  Quite often 
the victims are underage girls and male talibes (Koranic students) 
and in one case the victim was allegedly two-years-old.  Very often, 
rape is followed by pregnancy, psychological trauma, infanticide of 
an unwanted baby, ostracization from the family, and/or the death of 
the victim. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Minors are often raped by much older men from inside their 
family household and usually by a very close family member (uncle, 
father, first cousin, etc).  As a result of societal pressures, it 
is very hard for a victim to file a lawsuit when the victim and the 
accused are closely related.  Meanwhile, when a talibe is raped by 
his/her marabout (religious leader/teacher), parents often tend to 
withdraw their initial complaints (ostensibly after being pressured 
by other followers of the marabout).  As a result, lawyers and 
judges have a hard time prosecuting the guilty.  In addition, women 
and girls are not victims of just rape: they are also victims of 
sexual harassment, domestic violence, underage marriages, and female 
genital mutilation. 
 
 
The Examples are Endless 
------------------------ 
 
¶4. (SBU) The litany of rapes in Senegal is endless and while they 
are reported in the media, it is fair to say that even then they are 
probably underreported.  Some examples include: 
 
-- In the Guediawaye suburb of Dakar, a fourteen-year-old girl was 
raped and left pregnant; the guilty man was sentenced to only two 
years in jail and given a fine of USD 4,000; 
 
-- Also in Guediawaye a mentally unstable man raped and killed an 
eleven-year-old girl; he was lynched by angry neighbors; 
 
-- In Mbacke, in central Senegal, an eighteen-year-old girl was 
kidnapped, gassed, and raped by four men; the rapists ran away and, 
even though the police continue their investigation, they have yet 
to be found; 
 
-- In Mbour on Senegal's west coast, a fifty-one-year-old marabout 
raped a two-year old girl; the man is in prison awaiting trial; 
 
-- Over a six-month period, a "marabout" in the Dakar suburb of 
Rufisque abused his "talibes"; the accused was investigated for 
sexual abuse and pedophilia, but he was released due to a lack of 
evidence.  This man was identified by "Avenir de l'Enfant", a 
Senegalese NGO working to shelter "talibes" and street children; the 
NGO has appealed the case; 
 
-- In Tambacounda, in the eastern part of the country, a mentally 
ill man raped and abandoned a sixteen-year-old girl in the swamps; 
 
-- In Gueule Tapee, near Dakar, three men raped a thirteen-year-old 
girl who subsequently became pregnant; during the trial, none of 
them accepted paternity; however, they were all condemned to 10 
years in prison and had to pay CFA 3,000,000 (USD 6,000) in fines. 
 
 
Government Looking to Criminalize Rape 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) "If the parliament were to vote on legislation that 
 
DAKAR 00000032  002 OF 002 
 
 
criminalizes rape in Senegal, I would be the first to vote for it", 
said Minister of Justice, Madicke Niang before the National 
Assembly, when responding to the questions from female Deputies 
about domestic violence and rape.  As of today, rape is considered 
the equivalent of a misdemeanor, and the guilty are jailed for only 
3 to 7 years (Article 320 of the Penal Code, Para 5).  Most of the 
time, however, convicted rapists serve no more than a year in prison 
or the victim or the victim's family withdraws the complaint before 
the accused is brought to trial.  Ministry of Justice statistics 
estimate that 47 percent of accused rapists go unpunished and are 
released by the Court without going to trial.  As a result, a 
national committee was created to study the problem of rape and to 
develop proposals to stop its proliferation.  The committee is 
composed of representatives from the Ministry of Justice, the 
Ministry of Women and Family, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry 
of Education, RADHHO, the Association of Women Lawyers and other 
lawyers, women's associations, and NGOs working on domestic 
violence. 
 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Rape is a real problem in Senegal, with an extremely high 
rate of incidence in Dakar's poor suburbs.  Even if some rapists are 
prosecuted and sentenced to prison, women's NGOs and associations 
are pushing the National Assembly to upgrade the crime of rape and 
sexual violence to that of the equivalent of a felony, with an eye 
to increasing the length of prison terms.  Senegal also faces major 
societal hurdles due to its conservative nature.  Due to cultural 
taboos, rapes are seldom discussed and the ostracization of the 
victim is the norm.  For its part, the government can look for ways 
to augment the education of the most vulnerable about the dangers of 
rape, sexual abuse, and domestic violence.  End comment. 
Bernicat