Womankind in Sierra Leone

Womankind is working in Sierra Leone to support women by:

Campaign for social justice for women

Eliminating the high levels of violence against women (VAW) and ensuring access to justice and appropriate services for women survivors of violence.

The situation

The 11 year civil war and its aftermath, combined with Sierra Leone’s deeply patriarchal society, has meant VAW is extremely common, especially domestic violence in rural areas.

This problem is made more complex by limited access to a centralised justice system, lack of accompanying structures at the community level and a dual justice system (with the informal system being discriminatory towards women).

During the 11 year civil war a quarter of a million women were raped

• Rape and domestic violence are more of a problem in the post-conflict democratic society than before the war
• Nearly all women in Sierra Leone will suffer sexual or domestic violence in their lifetime
• In 2009 there was not one single conviction of perpetrators of sexual abuse
• The conflict and continuing VAW has also led to a sharp rise in women contracting STIs such as HIV
• 94% of displaced households in Sierra Leone reported incidents of sexual assault, including rape, torture and sexual slavery

What Womankind is doing

We are working with our partners to:

Increase access to justice for rural women

Increase protection, empowerment and support to women survivors of violence

Change community attitudes and practices to reduce discrimination and violence against women