Julius Maada Bio, Sierra Leon’s president declared rape and sexual violence a national emergency after a public outcry over the skyrocketing levels of rape and sexual violence in the country. The record of rape and sexual violence doubled reaching the highs of 8,505 of reported cases up from 4,750 a year earlier according to the country’s police statistics.
A third of those recorded cases involved the rape of underage children, in a country whose population is 7.5 million. A tearful Julius Bio declared life imprisonment for anyone found having raped a minor, amidst listening to a heart-wrenching testament of an Ebola survivor who has been raped repeatedly.
He decreed that all government hospitals must provide free treatment and medical certificates to all survivors of rape and sexual abuse. President Bio said that a special police unit would be created to investigate into sexual violence cases, whilst a special magistrate court would be set aside to handle sexual violence cases. According to Rainbo, the only local organisation helping survivors with free medical and psycho-social services, out of 30,000 women and girls who are victims of rape, 93% are below the age of 17.