Monrovia – The founder of ECOWAS Women in Liberia, Mrs. Chinyere Nwabudike, has alarmed over what she calls the growing trend of businesswomen being harassed at various border points.
Report by Mae Azango [email protected]
“We have noticed that decent women engaged in cross border trades, are being raped, harassed, intimidated and goods seized from them by security personnel.
The ECOWAS protocol provides women and people the opportunity to travel and do cross border trades in West African Countries without being harassed, intimidated and goods seized,” said Mrs. Nwabudike.
Mrs. Nwabudike said they are planning an awareness forum in the third week of August on cross border trade under the ECOWAS protocols theme: “Free movement of people, goods and services” as enshrined in the ECOWAS protocol.
She said they have invited heads of security agencies, including Immigration, LNP and Customs to engage them in a dialogue on the safety of women traveling along the various borders.
“We will visit the border posts, starting with the Mano River Union border post; because we want to know why the women are normally raped and their goods seized?
The women also complained that they pay a lot of money to customs officers and do not receive any receipts for the money paid.
The revenue collection should not only be carried out in Monrovia, because if they are taking money from the women at the borders without receipts for revenue, who is accounting for the money?
So these are the questions we want answered from the revenue collector’s head, the customs officers head and other stake holders,” she said.
When asked if the women won’t be scored for reporting the allegations of rape, harassments and seizure of goods, she replied: “If the immigration takes it out on women for speaking out the truth, we are ready to fight for the cause.
Because if we do not do check and balance, our country will not move forward, if we do not do check and balance, we won’t protect the rights of women which is also considered human rights, so if it means suffering at the hands of securities for speaking out our rights, so be it.”
Mrs. Nwabudike said on the day of the meeting next month, she wants all market women, cross border women, ECOWAS women to come out in their numbers so that they can hear from the security authorities on the issues of harassment, rape and intimidations because it concerns every woman.
“Women, come out in your numbers and let us ask our security authorities the burning questions on why are our women raped, intimidated and their goods seized by the officers who are supposed to protect us.”