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RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHFN #0304/01 2151713
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 031713Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY FREETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2799
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 FREETOWN 000304 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/FO, AF/W (JHUNTER) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL KWMN ASEC KJUS KCRM SL
SUBJECT: GENDER BASED VIOLENCE IN SIERRA LEONE 
 
REF: A. STATE 64939 
     ¶B. FREETOWN 250 
 
¶1. Summary: Gender-based violence (GBV) and inequality are 
tragic norms in Sierra Leone. Long-entrenched in the culture 
and reinforced during the civil war years, GBV is one of the 
most significant human rights issues facing Sierra Leone 
today. Though policy-makers, organizations, and the 
international community are aware of the need to change this 
endemic problem, effecting change in practice has been, and 
will continue to be, a challenge. Despite this, a cadre of 
dedicated stakeholders has been working to address these 
issues, and Ambassador and other embassy officers use every 
opportunity possible to discuss GBV and the need to eradicate 
it. Ambassador frequently discusses GBV with high-level 
government contacts, and includes it as a key talking point 
at many public events. Embassy officers meet regularly with 
those working on the issue across the country, both to share 
information and to provide public support for their 
endeavors. Political will to effectively address GBV exists 
here, despite the underlying social mores that serve as an 
engine to drive abuses to continue: supporting that political 
will with enhanced aid and technical assistance is a critical 
priority, and would be an investment that would pay back 
dividends in terms of improved governance, health, education, 
economic strength, and stability in the years to come. End 
Summary. 
 
¶2. Post is pleased to respond to the queries posed by the 
Department, with information keyed to reftel A. It is 
important to note that rape is just one of the problems 
affecting women in Sierra Leone: domestic violence, forced 
female genital mutilation, and limited access to assistance 
and justice are also key issues to consider. 
 
¶A. Despite limited resources, the Government of Sierra Leone 
(GoSL) is engaged on the GBV issue and trying to take action 
at the policy and coordination level. The National Committee 
on GBV (NaC-GBV) meets once a month, and is chaired by the 
Minister of Social Welfare, Gender, and Children's Affairs 
(MOSWGCA). It is co-chaired by an Assistant Inspector General 
from the Sierra Leone Police (SLP). Its purpose is to 
coordinate the activities of other agencies working on GBV, 
mobilize resources, and advocate for policy change. They 
serve as subject matter experts on draft pieces of 
legislation, such as the pending Sexual Offense Bill, and 
encourage citizens to support them. The NaC-GBV has created 
regional GBV committees in Bo, Kenema, and Makeni, and 
provided training on GBV response and prevention strategies 
to them. They currently do not have the funding to create 
similar committees at the district level. 
 
The GBV office within the MOSWGCA coordinates the national 
response to GBV. Its activities, though, are almost 
completely donor-funded: the International Rescue Committee 
(IRC) funds the office's staff, while UNIFEM provides direct 
donor support. The GBV office does not conduct programming 
itself, but coordinates the activities of other agencies 
through the NaC-GBV. The Family Support Unit (FSU) within the 
SLP is the only government agency that is able to fund its 
own GBV-related activities, and even it is largely 
donor-supported. FSU officers are trained to handle GBV 
cases, and further training is now being provided to all 
police cadets entering the Academy. The Ministry of Health is 
mandated to provide free medical services to victims, but in 
practice this does not occur. 
 
¶B. The USG does not currently provide direct funding in 
Sierra Leone for efforts to combat or address GBV, though 
USAID/West Africa provided funding to the IRC "Rainbo 
Centers" through the West Africa Ambassador's AIDS Fund in 
calendar years 2006 and 2007. The Rainbo Centers provide 
medical and counseling services, and assisted 1,235 clients 
at 3 centers in 2008. These Centers are the only physical 
locations that victims can be referred to for services and 
are considered to be highly effective. Rainbo Centers are 
client-focused, meaning that they provide medical, legal 
and/or counseling services depending on the desires of the 
victim. Contacts noted that without the Rainbo Centers, 
victims would have nowhere to turn: many expressed a desire 
to have additional Centers built in the district capitals, as 
well as expand into primary care facilities. Given that the 
Rainbo Centers are entirely donor-funded, however, continued 
care and expansion of services will only result through 
additional external support. The MOSWGCA is currently 
constructing two shelters on its own, but are aware of the 
challenges they face once they are open to the public in 
terms of maintenance and sustainability. The Ministry is also 
aware that they will be unable to provide services should the 
Rainbo Centers close (Note: The MOSWGCA is chronically 
under-funded, even as its mandate continues to grow. End 
 
FREETOWN 00000304  002 OF 004 
 
 
Note), and have been unable to meet even basic targets, such 
as providing the FSUs with social workers/counselors. Thus 
far, five social workers have been posted to FSUs, but funds 
for additional staff are unavailable. 
 
Less than ten organizations provide legal aid, and some 
psycho-social care is available outside of the Rainbo Centers 
from private NGOs who have funding from a variety of sources. 
Some private and public health centers provide medical 
services, but almost always require a fee. Medical reports 
provided to the courts by these institutions are usually 
thrown out of court for being incomplete due to 
poorly-trained staff. The country lacks a clear referral 
pathway for victims, to ensure that they receive the 
compliment of comprehensive services available: no case 
management is provided. The Ministry, however, is attempting 
to identify service providers in all areas to create a 
"service map" to assist victims and organizations in 
identifying services in their local area. 
 
IRC and other NGOs conduct weekly radio programs throughout 
the country on sexual exploitation and abuse. This is the 
most effective medium for reaching the Sierra Leonean 
audience. 
 
Dozens of local organizations work on FGM education in rural 
communities. The GoSL has not officially denounced the 
practice, and there is virtually no government/SLP support 
for local campaigns unless a death or serious FGM-related 
injury occurred in the area. 
 
C) GBV cases are generally not priorities in the court 
system, which is generally very slow regardless of type of 
crime. Sixty-five Sierra Leone Police officers completed GBV 
Prosecutorial and Investigative Training in 2008 (both FSU 
officers and others). IRC noted that, while the participants 
appreciated the training and were able to use many techniques 
for GBV and non-GBV cases, the management structure was not 
in place to allow many of those trained to even work on GBV 
cases. The management changed after the course and many of 
the police prosecutors were assigned in different directions. 
Some upcountry magistrates have been very active in pursuing 
GBV cases, while others have not. Many court officials/clerks 
do not take the issue seriously and anecdotal evidence 
suggests that cases are frequently thrown out of court due to 
lack of evidence, or that prestigious community members, such 
as Paramount Chiefs and Members of Parliament, pressure the 
judiciary to drop charges. Sometimes victims or their 
families are bribed by their attackers to abandon the case. 
Even cases that are formally pursued can result in no 
prosecutions or convictions: the slowness of the process can 
deter victims who either want to move on, or can no longer 
afford the travel costs to and from the court. 
 
Besides challenges on the prosecutorial side, law enforcement 
can also be lax or non-existent for these crimes: many 
officers have no training on GBV, and either do not 
understand them or do not consider them to be crimes (even 
though they are against the law). This means that justice for 
victims varies radically from location to location. Even 
high-level officers have taken a relaxed approach to GBV: 
some FSU officers have reported that they are forced to drop 
strong cases on orders from their Local Unit Commander. 
 
Coupled with the lack of training and knowledge for law 
enforcement and the judiciary, organizations point to poor 
understanding of existing gender-related acts as a problem. 
Many of these acts, including the Domestic Violence Act, are 
relatively new (passed in 2007), and information about laws 
and their appropriate implementation has yet to trickle 
completely down to the district level. Organizations, such as 
IRC, conduct sensitization programming in collaboration with 
the FSU. These programs target communities, schools, and the 
security sector. 
 
D) The Military Police within the Republic of Sierra Leone 
Armed Forces (RSLAF) conduct domestic violence training for 
soldiers, having recently recognized that DV is a significant 
problem in the ranks. The training program is supported by 
the UK. Reported allegations of abuse are investigated, and 
sources noted that the incidence has appeared to drop since 
the training began. Sexual assault, however, has not been a 
focus for the RSLAF. 
 
E) The MOSWGCA has such limited capacity that they do not 
have the power to advocate effectively to ensure that gender 
issues are placed into general humanitarian/capacity-building 
work done by other Ministries. Women's empowerment is often 
spoken of, but not necessarily included in many poverty 
reduction activities. The MOSWGCA trained and placed gender 
focal points at all Ministries, but these positions were 
 
FREETOWN 00000304  003 OF 004 
 
 
generally too low-level to have an appreciable impact. Also, 
the individuals were considered "administrators," and are 
frequently transferred between ministries. However, NGOs and 
UN organizations generally try to include women's empowerment 
issues or a gender focus in their programs. 
 
F) N/A 
 
G) The Human Rights Commission has worked with Paramount 
Chiefs to educate them about the Gender Acts. The purpose of 
the program was to discuss the power dynamics between 
customary law and legislated law, and more work needs to be 
done to reinforce this point at the local level. 
 
The MOSWGCA has also worked with Paramount Chiefs and 
traditional women leaders on this issue. It was well received 
and the Ministry feels that more work should be done to train 
civil society members to disseminate information for the 
Ministry. IRC has conducted training with male action groups, 
and most organizations acknowledge that focused campaigns for 
men would be helpful: such activities, however, require skill 
and acumen that most organizations acknowledge they do not 
have. 
 
H) Despite the existence of the NaC-GBV, donor coordination 
is still lacking. The MOSWGCA has a very small budget, and 
relies on service providers to accurately report their 
activities. Though the Ministry believes that most do, some 
organizations discussed difficulties with overlapping GBV 
programs, and donors with predetermined, duplicative project 
plans. Though still in its developing stages, the NaC-GBV is 
making in-roads in building stronger partnerships and trust 
relationships between all GBV stakeholders, including the UN 
and others agencies. 
 
¶3. In a country like Sierra Leone, whose infrastructure was 
decimated by the war and redevelopment hindered by poverty, 
ideas for service provision are unlikely to be "new" or 
"innovative." The most basic victim services are unavailable 
here, and though coordination is required to prevent 
duplication, significant gaps remain to be filled. The 
following programming ideas would benefit victims of GBV in 
Sierra Leone: 
 
A) Strengthen support for survivors by expanding Rainbo 
Center services within existing hospital structures to rural 
communities. Co-locating the Centers in hospitals eliminates 
construction and administrative costs for a separate 
facility, and may also help to establish long-term 
sustainability: the Ministry of Health is mandated to provide 
services to victims, and while it currently can not, could 
potentially do so in the future. IRC is very interested in 
up-country expansion, but only if multi-year funding is 
provided at the outset of the project. IRC's greatest concern 
is that funding will end before GoSL entities can assume 
responsibility for them, leaving victims unassisted. 
 
B) Increasing access to legal aid in underserved communities 
would also be extremely beneficial. The government does not 
provide any form of pro bono legal services, but NGOs have 
been working at the local level to fill this gap. Embassy 
Freetown's recent Democracy and Human Rights Funds request 
(reftel B) included a proposal from "Timap for Justice," 
which seeks to provide legal counsel to women and children in 
rural areas (Note: This proposal was not selected for 
funding. End Note). Since customary law is the norm outside 
of Freetown, which is generally patriarchal and prone to 
manipulation, providing women with the option of using the 
normal judicial structure will increase their access to 
justice. Pro bono services and law clinics will enable women 
and children to get the full benefit of the recent acts 
passed for their protection. 
 
C) Interlocutors pointed to the need for secure shelters for 
victims of abuse, or those stigmatized as a result of their 
abuse. Ministry contacts advocated that such shelters be 
rented, so that locations can be easily changed should 
security threats arise. These contacts also spoke frankly 
about their lack of capacity, and therefore interest in 
seeing shelters operated by NGOs or IOs that are better able 
to maintain them. Shelters, like increased Rainbo Center 
coverage, will require long-term investment by donors: it is 
unlikely that the GoSL will be able to sustain them in the 
near- and immediate-future. 
 
D) Though a number of organizations are already engaged in 
training efforts, the need here is so great for further 
education on GBV that funding would be well-used in this 
capacity. Trainings could target a variety of audiences, 
including the SLP, legal officers, social workers, 
traditional leaders, religious leaders, and the military. 
 
FREETOWN 00000304  004 OF 004 
 
 
 
¶4. Comment: Post appreciates the opportunity to highlight 
this important issue for the Department, and looks forward to 
future policy and programming endeavors. GBV is a scourge in 
Sierra Leone, and will take a multi-faceted approach to 
address. A "Women in Crisis" component can be added to post's 
existing programs on gender and the law. We hope Democracy 
and Human Rights funding will be granted in future to address 
the post-conflict issues of Sierra Leonean women. 
Interlocutors shared their realistic thoughts about how to 
move forward, recognizing cultural and infrastructural 
factors that create obstacles towards ameliorating this 
endemic problem. There is opportunity and optimism that a 
collective effort will ultimately prevail, and result in 
greater gender equality across security, economic, legal, and 
social lines. Such a change would help move Sierra Leone from 
the "post-conflict" phase, and into one of development. End 
Comment. 
PERRY