Violence Against Women In Mali Continues With Impunity
In Mali, more than 300 victims, only a handful of perpetrators receive sentences, and very minimal ones at that. Irin examines the problem:
“At least 300 women are victims of sexual violence every year in Bamako, according to local police records, but the actual figure is much higher said the president of the Bamako-based non-profit, Women in Law and Development in Africa.
“Victims and their families rarely denounce rapists in order to preserve the family’s dignity and honour,” said the group’s president Sidibe Djenba Diop, “Rape cases are on the rise, yet neither the [Malian] culture nor its laws recognise, yet, that rape is an act of violence against women.”
The group recently released results from a year-long study on women’s vulnerability to sexual violence. Based on police reports, the study noted at least one reported case of rape every four days, with the police launching a new investigation every week. But these inquiries rarely lead to any punishment, said Diop.
“Lack of understanding about this phenomenon, erroneous perceptions, indifference, and at worst, society’s tolerance worsens impunity.”
According to Bamako police inspector Boubacar Maiga, six people were sentenced to prison for sexual violence thus far in 2008, three of them for a period of six months, and the others for two years.
In 2007, Maiga told IRIN two people were sentenced to six months of prison time, and about US$40 each in fines to the victims’ families. Two people were found guilty as accomplices, and each served six months’ jail time.”
Filed under: Uncategorized, Atrocities, Misogyny, Gender-Based Violence, Violence Against Women, Rape, Sexual Assault, Human Rights
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