“We wish to express our dismay over the alarming rate of child abuse in the country and call on the relevant authorities to take necessary actions to end this menace once and for all for the country’s future. Despite the launch of the ‘Hands off our Girls’ Campaign last year by the First Lady, Fatima Bio, together with other First Ladies from across Africa, rape figures keep increasing instead of decreasing. In a country where access to information and services is a challenge, one can only imagine the number of cases that go unreported,” a statement from the organization said.

Meanwhile, at the recent call over ceremony at the High Court, over 100 sexual violence cases have been assigned to judges.

The Executive Director of CWS-SL, Moses Mambu, told journalists at a joint press conference that they were going to ensure that they apply more effort in their quest to continue protecting the welfare of children in Sierra Leone.

“If we lay the foundation for our girls to grow well and in dignity, we will be laying the foundation for our economic development because women constitute more than 56% of our country’s population. And they are worthy to be supported. So, we are calling on the general public and policymakers to take seriously our joint press statement,” he said.

He called on all to join hands together to ensure that the issue of rape would be taken as a national emergency so that it can be given the face it deserves for it to be addressed.

Inspector Aminata Kamara attached to the Family Support Unit, New England Ville Police Station, said their job is to investigate all matters relating to rape, but that it has been hindered by lack of forensic equipment.