From Learning to Legislation – AFELL Empowers Liberia’s Women

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s words of advocacy for the people of Liberia continued as she spoke from her own experience, “In the campaign months, I traveled to every corner of our country. I trudged through mud in high boots, where roads did not exist or had deteriorated past repair. I surveyed ruined hospitals and collapsed clinics. I held meetings by candlelight, because there is no electricity anywhere – including the capital – except from private generators. I was forced to drink water from creeks and un-sanitized wells all of which made me vulnerable to the diseases from which so many of our people die daily.

I came face to face with the human devastation of war, which killed a quarter of a million of our three million people and displaced most of the rest. Hundreds of thousands escaped across borders. More – who could not – fled into the bush, constantly running from one militia or another, often surviving by eating rodents and wild plants that made them sick and even killed them.

Our precious children died of malaria, parasites and malnourishments. Our boys, full of potential, were forced to be child soldiers, to kill or be killed. Our girls, capable of being anything they could imagine, were made into sex slaves, gang-raped by men with guns, made mothers while they were still children themselves.

But listening to the hopes and dreams of our people, I recall the words of a Mozambican poet who said, ‘Our dream has the size of freedom.’ My people, like your people, believe deeply in freedom – and, in their dreams, they reach for the heavens.

I represent those dreams. I represent their hope and their aspirations. I ran for president because I am determined to see good governance in Liberia in my lifetime. But I also ran because I am the mother of four, and I wanted to see our children smile again.

Already, I am seeing those smiles. For even after everything they have endured, the people of Liberia have faith in new beginnings. They are counting on me and my administration to create the conditions that will guarantee the realization of their dreams.

All the children I meet – when I ask what they want most – say, ‘I want to learn.’ ‘I want to go to school.’ ‘I want an education.’ We must not betray their trust. Young adults, who have been called our lost generation, do not consider themselves lost. They, too, aspire to learn and to serve their families and their communities. We must not betray their trust.

Women, my strong constituency, tell me that they want the same chances that men have. They want to be literate. They want their work recognized. They want protection against rape. They want clean water that won’t sicken and kill their children. We must not betray their trust.”

Another of AFELL’s battlegrounds is inheritance laws. Customary marriages, which are allowed under Liberian law, make a wife the property of her husband. Widows, therefore, have no inheritance rights to their husbands’ property. The women of AFELL are currently campaigning for enforcement of women’s inheritance rights.

AFELL’s most important bricks-and-mortar establishment is its legal aid clinic. Located in Monrovia, the clinic provides complimentary legal services to victims of rape and gender violence. Hundreds of community members of all ages, both men and women, come to learn about rape law and consult with legal experts. It’s a true community endeavor, often with lines running out the door.

As a result, women are no longer silent like they used to be. Lois Bruthus, president of AFELL, states that her organization receives up to six reports of rape a day. Alone, these numbers are frightful. When seen in light of the situation a few years ago, when rape was barely ever reported, and rapists let off practically without punishment, they’re encouraging.

As AFELL continues its battles to educate the public, illegalize marital rape and defend victims of rape and sexual violence, they inspire women worldwide with their strength, perseverance and successes in one of the planet’s most war-torn countries.

[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3jgEcbVuQs&rel=0]

 

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s shares her vision for a New Liberia. This video has been produced by Foreign ExchangeTV with Fareed Zakaria.
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For more information go to:

WITC – Women’s International Tribune Center
Women Talk Peace – Radio Productions -
UN Security Council Resolution 1325 / Liberia

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Sources for this article include UN.org, WomenWarPeace.org, Forced Migration Review – Vol. 27, AllAfrica.com, US Dept. of State, YouTube and UNFPA.org – 2006 International Symposium on Sexual-Violence-In-Conflict and Beyond.
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©WNN – Women News Network 2007

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