Monrovia – At the launch of a Legal Aid Mobile Clinic for women and children in Liberia to help protect the rights of women and children, the Executive Director of a local Civil Society organization, Her Voice Liberia, Atty. Magaret Nigba has said that violence against women is pervasive in the country.
Speaking Friday at the Official launch of Her Voice Liberia Legal Aid Mobile Clinic in collaboration with Sister Hand and the Liberian National Police, Atty. Nigba said Gender-based Violence (GBV) is a human rights violation and is an impediment to the advancement of survivor and affects participation in social, political and economic activities.
“VAW/GBV also affects families, communities and the country: it often results in reduced income at the family level; limited access to education; and, increased costs related to legal and medical services. Violence against women (VAW) also has an impact on the public health, economic stability, and security of the country,” says Atty. Nigba.
Atty. Nigba said the concept of “legal aid mobile clinic” is inseparable from its function as a vital means of access to justice and as such the legal aid mobile clinic is a giving of justice on the wheel to the extent of reaching out to the inaccessible terrains and thereby cultivating a door to door dispensation of justice for the victimized underserved vulnerable and women and girls.
According to Atty. Nigba, Her Voice Liberia intervention and purpose of the legal aid mobile clinic is a response to the challenges to women’s access to justice, gender equality and women’s empowerment alongside the gaps and lessons learned from current existent strategies, approaches and interventions of different stakeholders aimed at addressing them.
She added that the objectives of the legal aid mobile clinic amongst others include to safeguard free legal services for the underserved and underprivileged women and children, to increase legal awareness among the public to demand and claim rights, contribute to an effective, accountable and gender-responsive justice and the rule of law system, help reduce the number of prolonged pretrial women and girls detainees across the country and to help seek judicial remedy for victims, (women and children) of sexual and gender-based violence and unjust ownership of land rights.
On the issue of partnership with relevant states agencies, she disclosed that Her Voice Liberia in partnership with the Liberia National Police and Sister Hands Liberia has planned this occasion: “The Launch of the Legal Aid Mobile Clinic” with a Theme: “Taking Access to Justice to the Door”-Justice on the Wheel”
Serving as Chief Launcher and Guest Speaker, Liberia Country Officer of Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) Madam Massa Crayton cautioned that there is need for the discussion on gender and Sexual-based Violence to be genuine.
“We keep talking about it and seeing little results. We need a genuine conversation amongst ourselves. We don’t need to be just talking without result, we need to see genuine action. We can’t just talk when an incident occurs and after a few days, it is gone”, she said.
According to Madam Crayton, unspeakable acts continue to take place in many communities, committed by people who are not strangers but people who live with their victims in the same communities.
She continued “There are so many instances of incest in our homes, there are so many cases of domestic violence in our homes. We the women are not to keep quiet but we keep quiet because we have to protect our homes, our husbands. We suffer the pain and humiliations that go with it, so these acts will not go away until we speak out”.
Madam Crayton furthered “We need this genuine conversation, real conversation amongst ourselves, we need real concrete actions”.
She noted that there are issues that are having impact on getting real results on SGBV issues.
“Let’s start with the justice system, in most cases, the LNP is the first respondent but most times because of communities involvement these things become compromised at the Police Stations.
Madam Crayton also spoke about the justice system. “We also see where the entire justice system is failing us. It fails us because we do not have the money to hire lawyers, so we can’t go to court. Even at the police station we do not have money to register our case because the policeman will ask for money to buy papers and once we do not have money, we cannot continue with the case”.
“There are so many instances of incest in our homes, there are so many cases of domestic violence in our homes. We the women are not to keep quiet but we keep quiet because we have to protect our homes, our husbands. We suffer the pain and humiliations that go with it, so these acts will not go away until we speak out”.
– Madam Massa Crayton, Liberia Country Officer of Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA)
Another issue, she spoke about is the issue of Community-level compromise done at the family level.
“Families like to compromise issues because they do not want the family to be stigmatized by violence committed against a girl within the family. They will say we do not want people to say our daughter was raped, so let’s keep this thing quiet. This must stop, this is why I say we need this genuine and real conversation on how to address this thing”
The OSIWA official admonished Liberians to take advantage of the Her Voice Legal Aid Mobile Clinic describing the idea as a brilliant one.
A representative from the Country Office of Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) also applauded Her Voice Liberia for the launch of the Legal Aid Mobile Clinic.
Madam Patience Landford, Head of Program and Policy at Action Aid said ActionAid stands in solidarity with Her Voice Liberia for the launch of Legal Aid Mobile Clinic for women.
She said “At ActionAid, we are committed to ensuring that women rights are recognized, upheld and protected. Addressing the structural problems of violence against women is in the top priority of our country program strategic plan. Ensuring access to justice and legal services and meeting those fundamental human rights of women”.
To ensure the protection of women and vulnerable groups, she said ActionAid had partnership with many local and international partners to address these crucial issues affecting women.
“We applaud Her Voice Liberia for also championing this cause, and we stand in support be it technical, financial and others to achieve this together. We believe that providing this Legal Aid Mobile Clinic, it will be able to provide services to women and vulnerable groups in the Liberian society,” Madam Landford indicated.