Fallou Sowe, the national coordinator of the network against gender-based violence, said his office has recorded about 236 cases of gender-based violence in The Gambia with the majority of them, (65%), sexual violence cases.
“Over the past years, and from our experiences, the statistics we collected year after year, the numbers of sexual violence cases that are reported, including rape, defilement, sexual assault, and sexual harassment, are always more than 60%. What that tells us is that the cases of sexual violence are increasing in the country and the demographic health survey has proven that,” he explained.
Commenting on a case in Farafenni where a Magistrate sentenced a rapist to a fine of D50,000 for raping a 13-year-old girl, Mr Sowe said: “I don’t know the full details of the case but one thing I know is that according to the sexual Offences Act 2013, there is no fine, but only custodial sentence for any form of rape as far as the law is concern in the Gambia.”
He said if somebody is guilty of rape based on the laws of the Gambia, the person should be sentenced to prison for nothing less than ten years, depending on the age as well as the circumstances under which the person was raped.
He said if the victim is 12 years and below, the perpetrator should be sentenced to life imprisonment, but because she is 13 years old, as in this case, the perpetrator could have been sentenced to between 10 to 20 years imprisonment and not a fine.
Sowe said communities, authorities, parents, and responsible individuals should be concerned about the issues of sexual violence, and they should ensure that the law is applied to the letter to deter people from violating women, especially children.
“We are calling on the government, especially government institutions like the police and the court, to ensure that issues of Sexual and gender-based violence are not taken lightly and to make sure that perpetrators deter from sexually violating our children, especially our girls”, he said.
SheTale Media
