From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
The First Lady of Sierra Leone, Fatima Maada Bio, has sensationally revealed why she is waging war against rape and early marriage in Sierra Leone.
Bio who spoke on the sidelines of the African First Ladies Peace Mission Summit in Abuja, said on becoming the first lady of Sierra Leone, she refused to focus on the normal things that other first ladies did, which was HIV/AIDs campaign, noting that the problem in Sierra Leone is rape and early marriage.
Bio concluded that there is no going back in the campaign against rape and early marriage in the country, disclosing that it is a fight to the finish.
Can you give a brief of your humanitarian activities in Sierra Leone?
In terms of charity work, this is some-thing I have been doing for a very long time. It just happens that when you be- come the first lady, you have a platform and then, you create your own flagship. And that flagship has been the ‘Hands Off Our Girls’ campaign. That is a campaign, for me, to find a way to stop the abuse of our children, our girls. So, it is a campaign that focuses on rape, it is a campaign that focuses on ending early marriage which I also believe is a legalised way of raping girls because if you are to force a child at the age of 11, 12, or 13, even up to 17 to be married, for me, that is an abuse and I believe that it is just an African tradition of legalising rape.
Do you have a plan to partner with other countries on the continent to fight this cause?
When I began the campaign, I started it by launching it with about seven other first ladies who came. And they have all gone back and they have established their own projects because we can’t all call our projects Hands Off Our Girls. But they have changed the name and we are all campaigning against the same thing. One of those first ladies which I actually also went to help with her launching was the first lady of Liberia. That one is called the ‘She’s You’ movement. But it is on the same topic. We know we need to end rape, we need to end early marriage and we need to let our girls be allowed to be in school. So, I can’t force first ladies to do that, but I see that as an African problem because unless we start accepting that that is a very big issue in Africa, we will not be able to deal with it. And that has been my campaign from day one.
When becoming the first lady, I refused to focus on the normal things that other first ladies do which is campaign of HIV/ AIDs. These are campaigns that have been around for over 20, God knows how many years and I don’t think that is what the problem in my country is. The problem in my country is rape and early marriage and that is why I chose to do that and focus on that.
What has been the reaction to your project?
It has enabled the girls to know their rights; it has empowered our girls to say no and know that when they say no, it is the right thing to say. It has enlightened our men to know that there is a time not to touch a girl and it has revamped our justice system. When you raped before now, in most cases, you get away with it, but in Sierra Leone today, when you rape and taken to court, if you are found guilty, you are sentenced to 15 years. It has changed the justice system for us to have a special court. This is the first time it is happening. We now have a special court that is dedicated to dealing with rape issues only. So, it fast tracks that. It has also enabled the government to see things differently. Now, they focus on the actual agenda and we have the president who sits as the chairperson for our taskforce that deals with that. It has also helped me work with not one, two, three, but with huge range of different, different institutions that have been campaigning on these issues before I became the first lady and we now have a huge coalition where you have lawyers who have signed up to defend girls in court freely. You have doctors who will treat rape victims in hospitals and make sure that case is taken to court. When you are taken to a hospital as a rape victim, the female doctors have signed up to take the case upon them, not only treat you, but they make sure your case is taken to court. We’ve got that. We’ve got the police working with us, we’ve got the military, we have doctors, we have the Rainbow Centres, and we have institutions that are international organisations that are working with us and with Sierra Leonans themselves working with the president as the chairperson for that taskforce which no other country has and no other country is doing that.
How have you been sensitising other first ladies in this regard?
I have made it very clear from day one.
Since 2018, I have made it very clear to every first lady that first ladies of Africa should change the way we work and focus on our children because the rate at which our girls are failing, the rate in which our girls are now victims of sexual predators, the way our girls are used by parents for their own selfish gain, I have campaigned on that and that platform I have stood on and I am not changing. And I am focussed on that, the African Union knows that, the United Nations knows that, they are using my voice and now, I am with the United Nations, I am campaigning for Girl Plus to enable our girls to stay in school and remain in school. So, if the Hands Off Our Girls is not making any changes around the world, they will not see me viable to be the person to champion that. The African Union has given me a job to champion African sanitation again because of my relentlessness. I am not the normal first lady who just wants to see things and leave them that way. I don’t do that. I say it as it is and I ask for forgiveness later.
Are there personal encounters with the girls you may want to share with us?
I have built relationship with my girls where, when I go everywhere, they don’t see me as the first lady of Sierra Leone, they see me as their mother and that relationship is one that I cherish and I want to keep so dearly because I know through that, I will continue to empower them and I will continue to give them the belief that there is somebody out there who is standing for them and some- body who is defending them if they feel that they don’t have anyone else. So, really, that is my focus and my relationship with the children of Sierra Leone has grown and I have a beautiful relationship with them and I continue to work for them and I will continue to work for them. Because for me, to be first lady is not only about glamour and beauty. It is really about serving the people and I know the whole of Sierra Leone is my responsibility to serve every- one. But at the same time, I believe that our girls are more vulnerable. So, that is the reason why they are the ones that I am focus- sing on. And I give them that assurance that the government of the day is there for them.
How have you dealt with the traditional rulers?
They are part of the coalition because again, if you don’t have the traditional rulers supporting your case, unfortunately, no matter what campaign you take to the provinces, it just doesn’t work. They are the custodians of our laws. So, the traditional leaders are the champions of Hands Off Our Girls and when I am not available, they enforce the laws and they make sure that justice is given to our girls.