activists-from-sierra-leone

"Women’s rights groups have defended their position by invoking articles in Sierra Leone’s 1991constitution which say that special measures and policies can be taken where there is inequality that needs to be rectified,"

"I’d like to remind the president that this is elections year, and we think he needs to make sure his MPs support his promises and that we have the gender equality bill (enacted) into law before the elections"

"They (men) say such a rule does not allow people to freely choose who they want to represent them and infringes on people’s basic human rights."

"The idea is for political parties to ensure that those seats that are reserved for women are winnable seats, but the men are saying that such a policy is undemocratic,”"

"“If we really want to practice true democracy, the women have to be involved… we have been left out for too long"

"It’s not about competition with men; it’s about working together to move Sierra Leone forward in a very positive way"

"We are going to the women to say ‘engage your MPs that you want the quota bill passed into law or else you won’t vote for them (in coming elections)"

"women’s groups are also advocating for political parties to introduce voluntary quotas for women’s participation, in case the bill is delayed or not tabled in parliament."

"Sexual violence is being used as a “tactic of terror” to target religious and ethnic minorities and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities"

"The third trend, which seems to come in a much clearer way, is that sexual violence in conflict is being used to forcefully displace people. People are forced out of their communities and off their land because the land is rich in natural resources or because groups want to use it to grow narcotics as is the case in Colombia."

"think the biggest challenge we have is a lack of understanding about the strategies that these people use and I think that has made it extremely difficult to access them, to engage them, to understand what is driving them and what they do"

"The most important thing is to make sure we have more community engagement, make sure that communities who are involved in this crime, as well as community and religious leaders give us a better understanding of the extent of the crime, the people who have been targeted and to respond in terms of services for the victims"

"It’s not easy to deal with sexual violence because it requires capacity-building, providing technical assistance and support, changing laws, working with the judiciary to make sure that this crime is investigated and that the perpetrators are prosecuted"

"We cannot stop the crime taking place as long as there is conflict so we need to end the conflict but in the meanwhile we also need to give hope to these women."