Sierra Leone First Lady Fatima Maada Bio amplifies importance of Prevention of Child Sexual Exploitation
November 18th is now etched on the global calendar and commemorated annually as the poignant World Day for the Prevention of, and Healing from Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Violence – and this thanks to the First Lady of Sierra Leone Fatima Maada Bio who spearheaded its adoption by the United Nations in 2022.
A staunch advocate for the empowerment and well-being of women and girls, Mrs Maada Bio is also the force behind the powerful Hands Off Our Girls a one-of-kind campaign launched in December 2018 and supported by her husband President Julius Maada Bio, who banned early child marriage and put in place strict laws against sexual violence against women and girls as soon as he elected into office.
Hands Off Our Girls is today one of the most respected advocacy movements in both Sierra Leone and beyond. The campaign throws a spotlight on the scourges that hold women and girls back, such as child marriage, sexual abuse and rape, and domestic violence. It also implores policymakers to support women and girls through the provision of access to much-needed reproductive and sexual health facilities, and tackling health issues such as Fistula.
It was therefore of little surprise that Mrs Maada Bio’s call for the establishment of World Day for the Prevention of, and Healing from Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Violence was welcomed and honoured by the UN.
And to mark the day this year, Mrs Maada Bio (middle above photo) was joined by fellow First Ladies, Senator Oluremi Tinubu (Nigeria – on the right) and Mrs Anna Dias Lourenco (Angola – on the left), as well as other high-profile local and foreign dignitaries at a special event in Freetown, hosted to remind the world on the importance of this UN-designated day.
World Day for the Prevention of, and Healing from Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Violence truly aligns with the ethos of Hands Off Our Girls campaign. According to Give Them A hand Foundation, some of the campaign’s achievements to date include: helping to get Sierra Leone Sexual Offence Act to increase to 15 years, the minimum imprisonment sentence for all rape convictions – a dramatic increase from the previous two-year maximum incarceration; also thanks to the campaign, a conviction for child rape has been updated to life imprisonment – also up from a two-year maximum sentence; a fast-track Special Court for rape cases was launched in 2020, which turns cases around within a week compared to a previous two-year wait; the campaign also sponsored and facilitated the training of 40 medical doctors to treat rape cases and testify in court, an increase from just one doctor in the entire country; free sanitary pads are also distributed to girls attending government-assisted schools in Sierra Leone, allowing them to stay in school, previously often interrupted when their were on their monthly period.
UNAIDS Champion for the Empowerment Girls
And all these deeds and Mrs Maada Bio’s passion, have not gone unnoticed beyond Sierra Leone.
Not only does the African Union recognise her efforts, in September this year, on the environs of the annual UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, the UNAIDS named Maada Bio its Champion for the Empowerment and Engagement of Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Sierra Leone.
“The First Lady is a strong advocate for the empowerment of women and girls. I look forward to continuing to work together to end gender inequalities that drive HIV including sexual and gender-based violence, and to ensuring that our girls and young women have all the information and knowledge they need to lead healthy lives.” UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima, said on the occasion to which Mrs Bio responded:
“My hope is for a future where all women have equal rights. Where women and men can sit at the same table and make decisions together, where women are given the space to lead. That is my hope because then we will know that real equality has arrived for us all.”
Mrs Maada Bio is also a champion of Education Plus, an initiative launched by UNAIDS, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNFPA and UN Women to prevent HIV infections through free universal, quality secondary education for all girls and boys in Africa, reinforced through comprehensive empowerment programmes.
In Sierra Leone – the First Lady, who is also a respected former Nollywood actress and trained journalist – also regularly tours the country to meet chiefs, and tribal and religious leaders for their support in sensitising the country to the dangers and impact of harmful scourges that negatively affect women and girls, and by and large their communities, as well as the development of the country as a whole.
Commemorating World Day for the Prevention of, and Healing from Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Violence on the 18th is also timely as it falls only a week before the start of the annual 16 days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence, which runs between 25th November to 10th December.
As passionate advocates of women’s rights and empowerment on all fronts, we look forward to supporting the First Lady on this journey of eliminating issues that blight and hold back the advancement of women and girls, if we are to achieve the UN’s Global Goals by the fast-approaching 2030 deadline.
