Sierra Leone News: Amnesty Urges Govt to Immediately Lift Ban on Pregnant Girls
By Alusine Sesay
Amnesty International has called on the government of Sierra Leone to immediately allow pregnant school girls to fully enjoy their right to education in line with country’s human rights obligations.
The statement of Amnesty came on Wednesday October 16, 2019, after Government reinforces its discriminatory policy of excluding pregnant girls from school, jeopardising right to education of hundreds.
The West African country introduced the ban on pregnant girls in 2015, after a rise in teenage pregnancy during the deadly Ebola outbreak. Activists say the law has increased shame and stigma for pregnant girls and set thousands back in their studies.
Only 56 percent of Sierra Leonean girls aged 15 to 24 are literate, compared to 73 percent of boys in the same age range, according to the United Nations.
Responding to the news that authorities in Sierra Leone are reinforcing their position that pregnant girls cannot attend school prior to giving birth, Marta Colomer, Amnesty International Senior West Africa Campaigner said:
“Sierra Leone is a country with a high rate of teenage pregnancy. Yet instead of providing clear sex education in schools and effectively eradicating violence against women and girls, authorities in Sierra Leone are punishing hundreds of pregnant girls by denying them an education.”
“The government’s repeated refusal to allow pregnant girls to attend school is entrenching gender inequality and discrimination. Instead of empowering these girls, government policy risks shaming and blaming them,” Colomer said.
“The authorities must immediately lift this ban in line with Sierra Leone’s human rights obligations and allow pregnant school girls to fully enjoy their right to education.”
On Tuesday October 15, 2019, the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education issued a statement clarifying school attendance by pregnant girls. According to the statement, pregnant girls can now sit exams but still cannot attend school. In maintaining its regressive stance the Government used highly pejorative and stereotypical language,stating that pregnant girls should “stay away from schooling during pregnancy because of their inability for effective learning…” and that “it was widely perceived that pregnant girls have the potential to negatively influence their peers to be sexually active and become pregnant.” In so doing the Government offered no concrete evidence to support these misleading and harmful allegations.
In June 2019, Amnesty International joined a legal case brought by two non-governmental organizations, Equality Now and WAVES, to challenge the Sierra Leonean government’s ban on pregnant girls attending mainstream schools and sitting exams. The case is pending before the ECOWAS Court of Justice.
