Sierra Leone News: Rising Cases of Child Abuse in Kono

By Abu Bakarr Munu

A non-governmental organisation in Sierra Leone has raised the alarm over rising numbers of child abuse cases in Kono district.

The Sierra Leone Rainbo Centre, Kono branch has recorded 396 sexual abuse cases involving victims (girls) between that ages 11 and 15 this year, according to report.

The Manager of the Rainbo Centre, Kono branch, Madam Mary Allieu said on Tuesday that that they recorded 52 cases in January; 57 in February, 51 in March; 55 in April; 44 in May; 57 in June, 53 in July, and 27 in August.

Madam Allieu said that, the number of cases they are receiving per day is probably a bit higher as compared to that of the police in that part of the country. She said that the reason for that is that some people are ashamed of going to the police to pursue such cases. “They prefer to seek medication only,” she said.

Madam Allieu said that, some in a bid to strike compromise and to avoid stigma do not go to the police.

The manager noted that most of the victims were abused by their stepfathers or closed relatives, who are sharing the same house with victims. She added that in most cases, children were abused in the absence of their biological mothers.

Madam Allieu warned parents not to encourage men who called their children ‘my wife’. She emphasised the psychological impact that this meaning will have on the child as she grows up, adding that the child has the tendency to yield to whatever the individual told her in the future. She said that they have embarked on sensitization to educate people about the implication of such connotation.

In 2018, 2,579 minors were abused, according to the Family Support Unit of the Sierra Leone Police.

Rainbo Initiative, a non-governmental organisation, which provides free medical and therapeutic resources to survivors of gender-based violence, has been active in the country since 2003; and is currently operating in Freetown, Kono, Kenema, Bo and Makeni.