Gender justice and diversity in post-civil war Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone

The average person reading the news about the West African nation Sierra Leone in 2015 might never get further in terms of understanding Sierra Leone than the Ebola crisis. Indeed, this epidemic has taken a serious toll on Sierra Leone; in the first week of January there were 248 new cases reported, and thousands have died from Ebola in Sierra Leone. And though Sierra Leone remains "by far" the "worst-affected" country in Africa, there are positive signs that the spread of the virus might be slowing down (Reuters, 2015). Meanwhile, this research paper opens the door to a greater understanding of Sierra Leone as it delves deeply into the society in terms of how issues related to diversity and gender fairness impact the citizens.

Introduction to Sierra Leone -- After the Civil War

Any cultural critique of diversity and gender issues in Sierra Leone should be preceded by a brief historical review of how this nation arrived at its current independent status. The civil war in Sierra Leone (1991-2002) created great interest worldwide because of the atrocities that were reported. The "Truth and Reconciliation Commission" (TRC) documented 40,242 instances of human rights violations, including rape, maiming, destruction of property and forced labor -- and the TRC identified 14,995 victims of these atrocities (Bah, 2013). Some 20,000 citizens were reported to have been killed, and there were an estimated 100,000 amputations, and in the aftermath of that carnage a policy of "New Humanitarianism" (NH) was instituted by the United Nations. The NH policy was designed in order to build a stronger peace in Sierra Leone, and it was launched because as the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS) pointed out, "Millions of human beings are at the mercy of civil wars…" (Bah, 7).

Main Body -- Gender Justice in Sierra Leone

However, even though the United Nations intervened, and though the civil war is long over, there are very serious problems in Sierra Leone regarding gender justice and diversity in the social context of this country. Nine years of brutal, bloody civil war isn't remembered only for the politics and the body count, according to an article in the peer-reviewed journal Lancet. Those years of civil war "…unleashed widespread and systematic sexual violence" against grown women and girls (Bogert, et al., 2001). Most of the sexual violence was reported to have been committed by the rebels in the civil war, who used sexual violence to "terrorize the civilian population…and ultimately to control them" (Bogert, 304).

In the article the authors explain that not only do the victims of sexual violence suffer "serious health consequences," including the transmission of HIV / AIDS, the acts against women contribute to the demeaning of the feminine gender, which remains an enormous social problem in Sierra Leone (Bogert, 304).

Main Body -- Special Court for Gender-based Violence in Sierra Leone

After the civil war, a Special Court for Sierra Leone was established in Freetown, to pass judgment and ensure justice regarding the crimes against women and girls. This was an internationally formed tribunal, looking into not just rapes, but rapes with "…sticks, burning wood, and hot oil," along with the heinous crimes of sexual slavery, mutilation, forced child-bearing and forced marriage (Oosterveld, 2009). The estimation for how many women and children had been impacted by this gender-based violence is between 215,000 and 275,000.

However, in the four initial judgments rendered by this international court against the perpetrators of gender-based violence "fail[ed]" to make any contribution to justice. In fact the Special Court initially gave "modest but flawed" input to the terrible practice of gender-based transitional justice (Oosterveld, 76). Even more egregious is the fact that the Special Court failed to convict members of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) for the crime against humanity of "sexual slavery"; and the Special Court overlooked "gender-based crimes against women and girls" that were committed by Sierra Leone's Civil Defence Forces (Oosterveld, 76).

In brief, the Special Court, established by the United Nations, was intended to build the peace and contribute to the process of "national reconciliation," and it was intended to confront crimes that were considered "…outrages upon personal dignity" (rape, forced prostitution and any form of "indecent assault") (Oosterveld, 77). However, it is clear that the Special Court failed in its responsibility, either due to corruption or incompetence.

Diversity in Practice -- The Impact of Diversity in Sierra Leone

Rachel Glennerster and colleagues point out that right after the civil war, part of the explanation as to how the Sierra Leone culture is now so diverse can be found in the fact that there was a "…systematic movement of individuals" towards cultural regions where each individual's original ethnic group was "historically more numerous" (Glennester, 2013). Writing in The Economic Journal, Glennester explains that the greater the education that a woman (or any person) had prior to the civil war, the greater the likelihood that a returning woman would be attracted to "diverse areas" of Sierra Leone (Glennester, 286).

The authors go back to the colonization of Sierra Leone by the British in order to explain the "relatively good inter-ethnic cooperation" that exists in Sierra Leone today. That is because there are "strong traditional local authorities" that remain strong today notwithstanding the turmoil and carnage witnessed during the civil war. In Britain's colonial system there was a policy called "decentralized despotism"; this meant that certain tribal chiefs -- that had been elected by tribal "ruling families" -- were empowered by the British colonial authorities (Glennester, 287).

Still today, Glennester continues, these chiefs (who have tenure for their entire lives) have a strong sense of authority over local politics. To wit, they collect taxes from local citizens, they get royalties from the diamond mines and the logging industry; and they can legally punish those who fail to pay taxes through "public embarrassment and corporal punishment" (Glennester, 287-88). The point the authors are making here is that theoretically, ethnic diversity does not take away the power of these tribal chiefs. Why does this matter?

Going back to the founding of Sierra Leone (in the late eighteenth century) the former slaves who somehow got back to Western Africa (they were known as "Krio," or "Creoles") assumed political and economic positions that were privileged. These privileges were bestowed on the Krio people by the British, and today the language of Sierra Leone is in fact Krio (part English with numerous other linguistic influences). The fact that the language of Sierra Leone is Krio, gives the country a "national identity" that transcends the tribal cultural realities that still exist in the country (Glennester, 290).

That having been pointed out, it is worthy of note that chiefdom boundaries remain intact (there are 149 chiefdoms in Sierra Leone, with an average population about 22,000 per chiefdom), one can clearly see that diversity exists when you have 149 surviving chiefdoms after independence and after the bloody civil war (Glennester, 290).

Given that background, and relating to the women (and girls) that returned to Sierra Leone after the civil war, Sierra Leone is not only one of the world's poorest countries, it is also "…one of the world's most diverse countries" (Glennester, 290). In addition to the 149 chiefdoms, there are 18 "major" ethnic groups, among those the most dominant are the Mende (32.2% of the population) and Temne (31.8%).

Conclusion

Each ethnic group in Sierra Leone has its own rituals, customs, and history, and so if I am contemplating working in Sierra Leone in the future, I must be fully informed and cognizant of the cultural and ethnic diversity within the country. Moreover, I must be a good listener, a good learner, and be certain to be flexible and non-judgmental when confronted with questions as to my purposes, my history, and my hopes for the future of my native land.