Part 3 in a series documenting the journey of a 57-year-old alleged rape victim from rural Montserra to obtain justice.
Summary:
- A 57-year-old rape survivor whose struggle to get justice after she said she was raped in broad daylight has been documented by FrontPage Africa/New Narratives, is still waiting for a court date four months later.
- Court officials said the case file, which was missing, has now been found and the case may go to court next term, starting this month. But experts warn delays could see the accused rapist freed on bail.
- The case has angered women's rights advocates who have condemned the failure of law enforcement and courts to keep victims safe.
TODEE, Montserrado County -- On a recent morning, the 57-year-old grandmother at the center of a rape case that has outraged anti-gender-based violence advocates, returned to the gold field where her life changed four months ago.
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Her body and mind have not recovered from what she said was a violent assault by a passing motorcyclist that took place here, in front of her young grandson, as she returned from a morning's work panning for gold. An elderly man was unable to stop the attacker. It was only the arrival of another cyclist that the perpetrator stopped.
"I came on this side this morning," she said quietly. "But all my body hurting me."
After the rape the woman faced a second ordeal as police and court officials demanded fees for every step of the process to report the rape. She was even asked to pay the costs of keeping the alleged perpetrator in jail. Since then, she has heard nothing.
"No, nobody call me yet," she said. "I have no idea what will happen."
Experts say her case highlights serious problems in Liberia's justice system, where missing files, illegal fees and delays prevent almost all rape cases from reaching court. FrontPage Africa has been tracking the progress of the woman's case to highlight the challenges victims of gender-based violence face in getting justice.
Gender Ministry data showed more than 2,700 rape cases were reported in Liberia in 2024, with Montserrado County recording the highest number. Advocates say the real number of cases is likely higher, as many victims never report it.
But dysfunctional record keeping has made it impossible to know how many cases make it to court or how many convictions are secured. The justice and gender ministries referred this reporter to each other for the data. Isaac George, head of the Gender Ministry's Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Unit, said the office is being renovated, the files are unretrievable and the only person who might have the numbers on a computer was out sick.
Officials Concede in Liberia's Paper-Based Records System, Files Get Lost
FrontPage Africa/New Narratives has been documenting the quest of the 57-year-old woman since her attack in January in an effort to document the struggles rape victims, especially those in rural areas, face to get justice.
The woman, whom FPA is not identifying to protect her from retaliation, first told her story in February -- describing how she and her community paid money at nearly every stage just to move the case forward, even though George told this reporter that rape victims should not pay any fees.
Four months later, her case has still not reached court. Dysfunctional record keeping has also played a role in this case. For weeks, officials could not even find the case file.
Last week, after multiple requests from this reporter, George, said the file had been found and the case is expected to be heard in the next term of court starting next month.
George confirmed the delay was caused by the missing file. But, concerningly, said such problems are not unusual.
"We have cases like that... sometimes files disappear," he said.
At the Ministry of Justice, Gabriel Ndupellar, assistant minister for corrections, said delays often happen because case files are not properly handled between courts.
"The magistrate court commits the person... and does not forward the file, so the prosecuting attorney does not know the person is there," he said.
Unlike most of the rest of the world that uses electronic files, Liberia's courts still operate with paper records.
"These are paper documents... they get missing along the way," Ndupellar said.
Delays Risk Perpetrators' Escape and Add to High Pretrial Detention Number
Delays in taking a case to court have many consequences. If the accused rapist has a good lawyer delays may allow them to escape justice altogether. Under Liberian law, suspects must be tried within two terms of court. If that does not happen, their lawyers can argue that their rights have been violated and seek release. Once released, most never come back to face trial.
If they don't have a good lawyer, they will join Liberia's long list of defendants awaiting trial while incarcerated. Seventy percent of Liberia's prisoners have never faced trial, one of the highest rates of pretrial incarceration in the world. Some have been there longer than the sentence they would have received had they been convicted.
"If a case is not properly processed, then something is wrong," said Tiawan Gongloe, former solicitor general and human rights lawyer. "It is a violation of human rights, Justice is not being served."
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Gongloe faults George and his unit for not taking responsibility.
"The SGBV unit cannot simply say it does not know about a case."
Other Factors Including Pressure From Families Convinces Many Victims to Drop Cases
The alleged victim is now experiencing another of the major challenges that stop cases from proceeding in Liberia: She said the suspect's family recently came to her, asking her to drop the case.
"They said they will pay my expenses so we can forget about it," she said. So far, her family has refused. "My brother said he will call the authorities."
But the family said it has not given up and plans to return. Advocates say, as case drag on with no progress in sight, many frustrated victims give up and take the money.
For now, the grandmother, who has gone back to panning for gold for survival, says she will not be one of them. She wants justice.
"I want them to take my case to court," she said.
The story was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the "Investigating Liberia" project. Funding was provided by a private donor and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. The donor had no say in the story's content.
