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Sierra Leone over the years has been rated as the having the highest spate of sexual abuse and other offences against children, despite government and other agencies effort to curb this menace.
President Bio’s government in an effort to curb the situation, declared a State of Emergency on rape and sexual violence as a result of the extreme brutal cases of sexual abuse of children and the increase in reported cases of child abuse; climaxing to the anal rape of a five years old girl, resulting to her being paralyzed and in need of medical surgery.
Reports from the Sierra Leone Family Support Unit states that they recorded more than 2,000 cases of sexual penetration from January to December in 2018, and the survivors hardly get access to justice.
Director of Don Bosco Fambul, Father Jorge Crisafulli speaking during their usual plans to end the menace said most families compromise penetration cases and sexual abuse against children, adding that the result is that perpetrators end up not being charged to court and that data has shown that only few cases of sexual assault are actually successfully prosecuted.
He added that FSU in 2017 from January to December recorded more than 2,000 penetration cases of which 103 were confirmed cases, adding that, in 2018 the FSU again recorded more than 11,000 such cases including domestic violence, sexual penetration and rape of which 2,726 are sexual penetration cases and 205 rape cases.
According to Father Crisafulli, Sierra Leone in 2002 ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child including Article 21 regarding prohibition of early marriage.
