WUNRN
Please read on to Part 2 of this WUNRN
release - 12 July 2011:
LIBERIA JURY DELIVERS GUILTY
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Equality Now - http://www.equalitynow.org/node/781
2011 Mar 24
|
Ruth Berry Peal |
Over 58 percent of Liberian women have undergone female
genital mutilation (FGM). The practice is carried out through a politically
influential female secret society known as the Sande society as part of an
initiation rite into womanhood by the Kpelle, Bassa, Vai, Dan (Gio), Mano, Dei
and Gola ethnic groups. Challenging practices of the influential Sande society
could have severe repercussions. Women from non-FGM practicing communities in
In January 2010, Ruth had an argument with two women from
the Gola ethnic group and was summoned by the Gola Chief who ruled that she be
genitally mutilated despite her belonging to an ethnic group that does not
practice FGM. The following day, Ruth was forcibly taken from her home to the
‘bush’ where she was genitally mutilated in an initiation ritual, was forced to
take an oath of secrecy and was threatened with death if she broke the oath.
She was kept in the ‘bush’ for one month and developed health complications,
which required three months of treatment following her release. Ruth filed a
lawsuit against the two women who forcibly mutilated her. However, because Ruth
has invoked the wrath of the Gola community by exposing their practice after
taking an oath of secrecy, she and her husband received several threats
demanding they drop the case. Ruth’s case has been moved to
FGM in
FGM poses serious physical and mental health risks for
women and girls. The immediate complications include severe pain, haemorrhage
and shock, wound infection, septicemia and tetanus. Long term health
consequences include keloids and cysts formation, possible chronic infections,
decreased sexual enjoyment and psychological trauma. A 2006 World Health
Organization multi-country study found that complications during delivery are
more likely to occur among women who have undergone FGM and the rate of
prenatal deaths is 1-2 percent higher for the babies of such women. Some girls
die from FGM, usually as a result of bleeding or infection.
The Liberian constitution guarantees the rights of life,
liberty and security of person to all Liberians. Liberia is also a party to a
number of international and regional human rights treaties that mandate the
protection of women and girls from the practice of FGM, including the Protocol
to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in
Africa, which in Article 5 specifically calls on states parties to ban all
forms of FGM through legislative measures. In addition, the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child, all ratified by Liberia, further guarantee women and girls
protection from this harmful practice.
Significantly, the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women, the treaty body that monitors compliance with
CEDAW, in examining Liberia’s report in 2009, urged the State party to “enact
without delay . . . legislation prohibiting female genital mutilation and to
ensure that offenders are prosecuted and punished in accordance with the
severity of this violation” and to “immediately stop issuing permits to
practitioners as currently being done by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.” The
Committee encouraged Liberia to “extend and accelerate implementation of
programmes designed to sensitize and provide alternate sources of income for
those who perform female genital mutilation” and to “strengthen its
awareness-raising and educational efforts, targeted at both women and men,
including government officials at all levels, chiefs and other traditional and
community leaders, . . to eliminate the practice of female genital mutilation
and its underlying cultural justification.”
Despite the foregoing international, regional and
national commitments,
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 12 July 2011
Contact: Mary Ciugu, (254) 20 271-9832/913
equalitynownairobi@equalitynow.org
LIBERIA-JURY DELIVERS GUILTY
On 8 July 2011, the case of Ruth Berry Peal,
who was abducted and forcedly genitally mutilated by two women of the Gola
community, was concluded after one month of hearings with a verdict of “guilty”
by the jury on charges of kidnapping, felonious restraint and theft. The sentencing of the two women will take
place this week by the judge, who in closing made references to the Liberian
Constitution and Article 4(1) of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human
and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (African Women’s
Protocol), which states “Every woman shall be entitled to
respect for her life and the integrity and security of her person. All forms of
exploitation, cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and treatment shall be
prohibited.”
Equality Now and its Liberian partners, the
Women of Liberia Peace Network (WOLPNET) and Women NGOs
Secretariat of Liberia (WONGOSOL), welcome the
jury’s decision and are eagerly awaiting the sentencing of the perpetrators. Equality Now launched an international
campaign calling for justice for Ruth and urging Liberia to criminalize female
genital mutilation (FGM), which it has an obligation to do so under Article 5
of African Women’s Protocol ratified by Liberia in December 2007 (click here to view the campaign).
In response to advocacy efforts of Liberian
groups and Equality Now, Ruth’s case was moved from Bomi to
The prevalence rate of FGM in
Equality Now and its partners continue to urge
the government of Liberia to take expeditious action to protect girls and women
from female genital mutilation, and, to this end, call on the Liberian
government to stop issuing permits to the FGM practitioners, to initiate the
process towards enactment of a law criminalizing FGM and to invest in public
education against the practice.
For more information on this campaign visit www.equalitynow.org