The outreach also creates awareness on early child marriages and teenage pregnancy among girls in the Bombali District. The purpose of the engagement according to WOFHRAD coordinator Emilia Kamara Jengo was to promote and sensitize girls and women on their fundamental rights at Rosint village, adding that the village happened to be one of their beneficiaries, in their bid to reduce early marriages and teenage pregnancy and foster avenues for girls to enhance quality education.
“Child marriages constitute a violation of children’s rights, particular the rights of the girl child. It further deprived them of their childhood, as they transformed into wives and mothers in their tender age, without understanding what marriage really entails” Jengo added.
Representative of the Family Support Unit in Makeni, Detective Sergeant 8434 Joseph Amadu Kargbo said the duty of the family support unit to the community is to asses all complains of violence in the family or against women and girls.
He furthered encouraged the women and girls to report all domestic and sexual violence to police. He emphasized that FSU was not only meant for women but also men as they too suffer violence from women. He mentioned that the FSU was instituted to reduce the act of children being compelled by the parents or guardians into female genital mutilation initiation.
