The Irish Working Group on Gender Based Violence in Sierra Leone (IWGGBV-SL) formed in 2016 and membership consists of Action Aid, Child Fund International, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, Embassy of Ireland in Sierra Leone, Forum Against Harmful Practices (FAHP), GOAL, International Rescue Committee, Plan International, Purposeful, Rainbo Initiative, SEND-SL, Trócaire, UNFPA, UNWOMEN, and World Vision.
In 2016 Member Organisations of the IWGGBV-SL mobilised around 16 Days of Activism, a global advocacy campaign seeking to raise awareness on issues of gender based violence. The IWGGBV-SL fundraised and donated much needed items to the 3 Rainbo Centres, the only providers of free medical and psychosocial care for survivors of GBV in Sierra Leone as they were on the brink of closing down due to lack of funds/support.
In 2017 and 2018, the IWGGBV-SL commissioned a piece of research, with support from the ICGBV, looking at how three Gender Acts in Sierra Leone (the Domestic Violence Act, the Devolution of Estates Act, and the Registration of Customary Marriage and Divorce Act) have improved the protection of women and girls, 10 years on from implementation into law. You can find the Impact Assessment here.
The final outputs from this piece of research included a report looking at the effect of these laws across all regions of Sierra Leone and an advocacy brief outlining additional work to be done and key stakeholders. The IWGGBV-SL presented the report in a High Level Advocacy meeting in Freetown.
New Policy Brief from the IWGGBV-SL
(June, 2024)
The IWGGBV-SL recently developed a policy brief on the implementation of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act of 2019. This brief examines the Act’s implementation status and provides a concise overview of its achievements, gaps, and recommendations for improvement.
The brief concluded that the Act faces significant technical challenges in legislative, reporting, investigation, prosecution, conviction, and imprisonment processes. Recommendations were made to enhance programme quality, data management, and effective law enforcement.
The ICGBV-SL presented this brief to the Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs, who fully committed to disseminating the report to the entire cabinet and all parliamentarians. They are hopeful that the Government and other actors will implement the recommendations within the brief. The next step is to collaborate with the Ministries of Gender and Children’s Affairs, Health, Justice, and the Family Support Unit (GBV specialised unit of the Police) to develop and roll out implementation plans for the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act (2019) and the recommendations within the report.