The issue of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) has been a critical problem for Sierra Leone. According to the Executive Director of the Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL), Ibrahim Tommy, the lack of adequate funding for the Family Support Unit (FSU) is a major setback in the fight against SGBV. CARL launched research on SGBV and access to justice, funded by Trocaire, on 7 August 2019 at the Scripture Union building on Pademba Road. Tommy highlighted the work of the FSU and said it cannot be disconnected from the advocacy for better services for SGBV survivors. He added they purely focused on the north. The research showed, despite law, SGBV survivors are requested to pay for medical examinations, treatment and reports, based on evidence, which they collected from medical centres.
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According to the research “in spite of these interventions which were essentially informed by the provision of free medical examination, treatment and reporting by Section 39 of the Sexual Offences Act 2019 and 7(3) of the Domestic Violence Act 2007, a significant number of issues still remain unaddressed which continue to undermine access to justice or better services by the survivors of SGBV.” The research which covered 9 government hospitals and 25 FSU’s in Kambia, Port Loko, Makeni, Lungi, Western Urban and Rural aimed at determining the number of SGBV survivors who were asked to pay medical services at hospital, as well as those who received the free services from 2016-date. It also examined various forms of challenges by the FSU, which is undermining their prompt and adequate response to incidents of SGBV. The research reveals survivors of SGBV were asked to pay for some form of services both at the Police (FSU) or hospital, and in extreme cases at the Court to ensure that their matter is called in time. It also revealed that 3 out of 9 hospitals presented updated records of SGBV survivors who approached their facilities from 2016 to date. The most common services paid for was a pregnancy tool kit. It further states that none of such hospitals or FSU’s have a database or digitalized records management system except the north-west FSU regional Office. “13 of 15 FSU’s said they don’t have adequate personnel to respond to incidents of SGBV and all 15 of the FSU’s said they have neither received financial nor logistical support from government throughout the period under review. One of their recommendations was to increase the budget allocation to the FSU to make it fully functionally and effective. Tommy noted that the FSU is receiving the lowest allocation in the Sierra Leone Police budget, despite the type of work they are doing.
MJB/7/8/19
By Mohamed J. Bah
Thursday August 08, 2019.
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