The Inquirer (Monrovia)
Rose M Saulwas
30 April 2008
A Medecine Sans Frontiers (MSF) conference on the medical care for survivors of sexual violence has reported that 42 percent of the victims of most talked-about crimes against women and children rape nowadays in Liberia are children under 18 between the ages of 5 to 12 years.
Making the disclosure during a medical conference held at the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOH), the head of missions of MSF in Liberia, Mariano Lugli, said that since their service in 2003 to present, they have had 6,494 patients treated for rape, 72 percent of which are also victims under age 18.
Making the revelation of his organization's report on Wednesday, Lugli said that out of the given figure, 1,814 cases were reported in 2007 and that the poor quantity and quality of the care has become a barrier for those seeking medical attention after being violated.
The MSF head stated in his presentation that the privacy and confidentiality of victims and the stigma that it poses if their situations are not kept confidential has become a barrier for victims and survivors.
Also speaking during the conference, the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Walter Gwenigale stressed that it was time that the medical practitioners learn to sit and listen to the stories of what happens to victims and understand them because among the many problems which Liberia has, paramount among them is violence especially against women and children in the form of rape.
He said it was his hope that the recording of victims' stories be done properly noting that that it would help the justice system properly prosecute their cases.
"Not many people are reporting cases of rape in the country, because most of the facilitators in the medical institutions are males and that the victims mostly females, make it rare for them to give them their stories," the Health Minister observed.
He said that the MSF is leaving and they have been helping victims of rape therefore he hoped that at the end of the conference, they would find a remedy so that rape would no longer be a problem in Liberia. "We are tired of seeing our babies' rectums being torn apart by people," he concluded.
During the conference, there were many concerns raised about the lack of qualifications in the health system, inadequacy of doctors in clinical practice in Liberia, and the lack of understanding in the laws concerning GBV by police officers.
Meanwhile, recommendations made at the end of the conference included hand-on solution to most of the problems of GBV along the building of a forensic laboratory for the study of verifying such cases.
Several other health partners including Merlin, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Touching Humanity In Need of Kindness (THINK) made presentations at the conference.
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