Violence against women has been recognized globally as a violation of the fundamental rights of women. Women in The Gambia have borne the brunt of this human rights violation due to entrenched cultural, religious, and patriarchal practices, structural inequalities, and power imbalances between the sexes that engender discrimination and subordination of women.
Following the enactment of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC), Act 2017, the Commission was formally launched the TRRC Act provides for the establishment of the historical record of the nature, causes, and extent of violations and abuses of human rights committed during the period July 1994 to January 2017 and to consider the granting of reparation to victims. The Commission’s mandate includes initiating and coordinating investigations into violations and abuses of human rights; the identity of persons or institutions involved in such violations; identifying the victims, and determining what evidence might have been destroyed to conceal such violations.
The hearings which began on 7 January 2019 serve as an initial first step towards securing justice, truth, and reparations in The Gambia. During its 9th session, SGBV was the main theme of the hearing. There were 15 witnesses who testified, 13 of whom were women, with the majority of them recounting their personal experience of SGBV, including rape.
International human rights norms
International and regional human rights norms have evolved significantly to protect women and girl’s fundamental rights from violence. Various international and regional instruments address violence against women. The normative framework for the protection of women against gender-based violence, including all forms of sexual violence against women can be found at the international, regional, and national levels. The Gambia has ratified and domesticated a series of international instruments that promote equal rights for women such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol). The Maputo Protocol particularly calls for African states to focus on both public and private violence against women and adopt specific measures to protect victims and punish perpetrators. The causes of violence against women should also be identified and support services be provided to victims.
The Gambia has further committed itself to the realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2016). Goal 5 addresses gender equality, as one of its targets, the elimination of all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation. In the past few years, we have come to recognize that gender equality is both a contributor to and indicator of development. But more importantly, that gender equality is a right illustrating the link between development agendas and existing regional and global women’s human rights frameworks.
General Legislative and Policy Context in The Gambia
Currently, there is no provision on the state’s obligation to prevent, punish and eliminate violence against women in the 1997 Constitution. In addition, the 1997 Constitution, The Gambia has enacted various laws including the following:
- Criminal Code, 1933
- Sexual Offences Act, 2013,
- Women’s Act, 2010
- Tourism Offences Act, 2003
- Trafficking in Person’s Act, 2007
- Children’s Act, 2005
- Domestic Violence Act, 2013
Sexual Offences Act 2013
The Sexual Offences Act provides protection against sexual crimes against all persons and, especially, sexual offences being committed against vulnerable groups, including women, children, and people who are mentally and physically disabled. This legislation is applicable to the trial of rape and other sexual offences. However, the law failed to take into account the ‘Due Diligence’ standard, which acts as a yardstick through which states’ response to violence against women is measured. These measures include; the duty to protect, to prevent, to punish, to prosecute, and to provide reparation.
Women’s Act 2010
The Women’s Act provides an innovative and comprehensive provision for the protection of women from violence. Section 6(1) of the Women’s Act extends its protection to physical, sexual, psychological, and suffering of women. In addition, Section 26 (c) protects women, especially girls from all forms of abuse, including sexual harassment in schools and other educational institutions, and provides for sanctions against the perpetrators of such practices.
Trafficking in Persons Act (2007)
The Trafficking in Persons Act is a comprehensive piece of legislation that focuses on the prevention, suppression, and punishment of the perpetrators of trafficking in persons, as well as, rehabilitation and reintegration of survivors of trafficking.
Where is the justice?
Despite the significant milestones achieved in advancing women’s rights and gender equality and addressing violence against women, at the national, regional, and international levels, there remains both continuing and new sets of challenges that hamper efforts to promote and protect the human rights of women. The lack of effective prevention and response to these violations is due to a myriad of reasons, ranging from prevailing patriarchal attitudes and beliefs that permeate traditional cultural and religious thinking and practice, to the lack of political will to hold perpetrators of violence
It is particularly concerning at the absence of effective reporting mechanisms; the low level of prosecution of perpetrators; the insufficient support for victims of violence, including legal assistance, shelters, and rehabilitation services. Access to justice including legal aid remains a challenge for women. This challenge, in part, contributes to the inadequate number of reporting and consequent investigation of cases. The enforcement of the Sexual Offences Acts remains particularly challenging, especially for law enforcement agencies. Due to deep-rooted cultural practices in Gambian society, such cases are mostly unreported. Even where such cases are reported, prosecution of such cases become challenging due to the unwillingness of victims to subject themselves to the court process due to family and societal pressures.
As discussed in #IAmToufah Makes the Message Clear: We Will Not Wish the Rape Crisis Away, The culture of impunity that has perpetuated our society for the past two decades serves as the foundation for the lack of justice for survivors of sexual violence. The state condones and perpetuates violence when it does not effectively implement laws that protect women and girls from that violence. Effectively, the government allows for impunity. When the state does not hold perpetrators accountable, it sends a message that male violence as a mechanism of control over women is acceptable, thereby leading to the normalization of the violence.
Opportunities for the protection of women against SGBV
While we have laws and policies in place, it is vital that we ensure effectiveness. enforcement mechanisms are in place. This would include the strengthening of the justice system and the police to deal with cases expediently as victims need to be provided with just and effective remedies. Perpetrators of all forms of sexual violence should be prosecuted and punished. The state has an obligation to protect, prevent, punish and prosecute violence against women cases. This would include ensuring effective implementation of policy and programS through attention to budgeting, monitoring, reporting, and evaluation; and the creation of a system of accountability. These accountability structures need to be given the necessary human and financial resources to be able to effectively undertake their work.
Equally important, civil society organizations need to collectivize efforts and continue to challenge attitudes and stereotypes that engender GBV and perpetuate the subordination of women and the unequal distribution of power between women and men. Assertions of culture and religion cannot be continually used to justify violations of women’s rights.
In addition to the provisions in the present laws, the new Gambian constitution must constitutionalize the prohibition of violence against women and girls in both the private and public spheres. Constitutions serve as important frameworks for articulating a State’s condemnation of violence against women in line with international standards. The inclusion of such constitutional protection will be premised on the basis that gender-based violence violates the fundamental rights of women and limits their opportunities and choices.
Conclusion
Violence against women, whether in the public or private spheres, contributes to impeding women’s realization of a broad range of human rights that are essential to the exercise of full, inclusive, and participatory citizenship. Viewed through this framework, violence against women has to be acknowledged as a barrier to the realization of all human rights, and consequently, to the effective exercise of citizenship rights.
In dealing with past human rights abuses and upholding standards of respect for human rights, The Gambia’s transition from an abusive regime to democracy must also entail justice for victims of gender-based violence.
Note: This blog is based on a commissioned podcast series on SGBV by UNDP in partnership with the Government of Ireland titled “Intensifying Support to Victims of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) and their participation in Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission processes in The Gambia (ISV-SGVB)”. The Podcast on SGBV is aimed at increasing awareness on the scope and extent of SGBV in The Gambia, its negative impact on all aspects of society and provide listeners with tools and resources on tackling this crime. It provides the platform for experts to provide simple, concrete suggestions to change and policymakers on ways to tackle the prevalence of these violations, and in the long term, improve the country’s gender landscape.
Check out the full podcast.
