236 Cases of Gender-Based Violence recorded, 60% of the cases were Sexual Violence against Women & Girls

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Fallou Sowe

Fallou Sowe, the National Coordinator of the Network against Gender-Based Violence, has said during an Interview with this medium that they recorded about 236 cases of Gender-Based Violence, and the majority of the cases, 60-65%, are all sexual violence cases in the Gambia.

The Interview was held recently at the Network’s office in Brusubi Phase Two.

Responding to a question on the number of cases reported since the beginning of the year 2024, he said, “This year so far, we recorded about 236 cases of Gender-Based Violence and the majority of the cases, 60 to 65%, are all sexual violence cases.

Over the past years, and from our experiences, the Statistics we collected year after year, the numbers of sexual violence cases that are reported, including rape, defilement, sexual assault, and sexual harassment, are always more than 60% of the cases we record. What that tells us is that the cases of sexual violence are increasing in the country and the demographic health survey has proven that”.

On the question of what went wrong when a Magistrate at the Farafenni Magistrate Court in the North Bank Region of the Gambia sentenced a Rapist who raped a 13-year-old girl to a fine of D50000, he said “I am not preview to the detail of the Case but one thing I know is that according to the sexual Offences Act 2013, there is no fine for any forms of Rape as far as the law is concern in the Gambia”.

He said if somebody is guilty of Rape based on the laws of the Gambia, the person should be sentenced to prison for nothing less than ten years, depending on the age as well as the circumstances under which the person was raped.

He said if the survivor is 12 years and below, the perpetrator should be sentenced to life imprisonment, but because she is 13 years old, the perpetrator could have been sentenced to between 10 to 20 years imprisonment and not a fine.

He said communities, authorities, parents, and responsible individuals should be concerned about the issues of sexual violence, and they should ensure that the law is applied to the letter to deter people from violating women, especially children.

“We are calling on the Government, especially Government Institutions like the police and the court, to ensure that issues of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence are not taken lightly and to make sure that perpetrators deter from sexually violating our children, especially our girls”, he said.

Author: Halimatou Ceesay

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