President George Manneh Weah, has signed into law the Domestic Violence Act (DVA) passed recently by the National Legislature.
On July 19, the Liberian Senate concurred with the House of Representatives in passing the Act which was introduced during the term of the 53rd Legislature.
It comes into full force when printed into handbills by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The signing of the act into law by the President comes amid growing violence against women and children and entrenched gender inequality practices.
By and large, the law will promote gender equality, women and children protection, amongst other things.
The Act makes domestic violence, which includes physical or mental abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and exploitation, a serious crime against the individual and society.
Appending his signature, the Liberian leader hailed stakeholders and foreign partners, as well as the National Legislature, for efforts put into developing the Domestic Violence Bill which has now become law.
He said the days of domestic violence perpetrators are numbered because the DVA will be fully and appropriately enforced under his leadership.
Background
The bill was first introduced as the Domestic Violence Act of 2014 as an upgraded version of the Liberian domestic violence laws as contained in Chapter 16 of the penal code.
The first version stalled at the Legislature because it criminalized Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), a traditional practice that has been universally recognized as a violent and inhumane act.
FGM has been a contentious issue as the practice is a core aspect of Liberia’s sacred traditional female school, the Sande Society.
For fear of a political backlash of the traditional groups, previous sponsors [lawmakers] could not muster sufficient support in the Legislature to ban the practice. As a result, the passage of Domestic Violence bill continues to stall at the Legislature since its introduction in 2014.
