By Sulaiman Jalloh
Deputy Whip of the opposition, All People’s Congress (APC) in Parliament representing the people of Bombali District who doubles as the Chairperson of the Committee on Gender and Children’s Affairs, Hon. Catherine Zainab Tarawally has, during a town hall meeting held recently at the Freetown City Council (FCC) Conference Hall on Wallace Johnson Street in Freetown, expressed serious concerns over issues related to fighting Sexual Gender-Based Violence (SGBV).
Hon. Catherine Zainab Tarawally disclosed that the Family Support Unit (FSU) at the Police Station in Port Loko does not have any women police officers attached there, adding that since 2021 when the last female police officer was removed from the government hospital in that part of the country, there has not been any police women to look at issues at the one-stop centre that was established by the Ministry of Health.
According to the lawmaker, the Northeast Region, Port Loko District in particular, has, over the years, seen an increase of cases of SGBV, adding that for Freetown, the East has taken the lead. Hon. Catherine Zainab Tarawally further disclosed that, according to data obtained from the Rainbow Initiative, there are 272 juvenile rape cases, something she blamed firmly on the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) while promising to invite them in Parliament. “We received two women in Parliament that told us police have compromised their cases,” Hon. Tarawally asserted, adding that, “At Ross Road a 62-year-old man raped an 11-year-old girl and the case was compromised.” The opposition MP maintained that Parliament is going to pursue that case to its logical conclusion.
The vibrant lawmaker further noted that there is need to revisit the Sexual Offences Act, 2019 as amended, especially on the issues that have to do with who and whom to prosecute, pointing out that State Counsel is responsible for the delay of SGBV cases to be charged to court. The lawmaker also called out the police and court in Koinadugu District.
Copyright –Published in print in Expo Times Newspaper on Friday, July 12th, 2024 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)