Liberia's President George Weah declares rape a national emergency after horrific spike

Liberia's President George Weah has declared rape a national emergency and also directed new measures to tackle it after the West African State witnessed a recent spike of cases. The decision comes after thousands of Liberians protested against the rising incidents of rape in the capital Monrovia last month, in an attempt to draw attention to the country's increasing rate of sexual assault. George Weah's office said in a statement on Friday that further anti-rape measures will be announced. 

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Liberia: George Weah declares rape a national emergency 

Late on Friday, the Footballer-turned-President said that he would install a special prosecutor for rape in Liberia. As per the official statement released by Weah's office, a national sex offender registry will also be set up. The government will also establish a so-called "national security task force" on sexual and gender-based violence. The surging rape cases in impoverished Liberia come amid the government's struggle with both war and the Ebola virus which has been a longstanding concern in recent years. 

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A UN (United Nation) report in 2016 recorded 803 rape cases last year in the country of 4.5 million and found that only two per cent of sexual violence cases led to a conviction. The rape cases in Liberia are rising every day because at the time of 14-year civil war (1989-2003) rape was not considered a punishable offence. While addressing the meeting, Weah said Liberia was “witnessing what is actually an epidemic of rape within the pandemic, affecting mostly children and young girls across the country.”

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Margaret Taylor, the director of Liberia’s Women Empowerment Network, said last month that her NGO had recorded 600 cases of rape between June and August, while rape cases in May were between 80-100. George Weah's announcement of declaring rape a national emergency is to be followed by a conference in Monrovia on tackling sexual violence on September 16, Wednesday.

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