Former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Thursday showed up among anti-rape protestors afternoon saying the frequency of the rape in Liberia needed amounts to protest.
She added that Rape has always been a problem, it was before my administration, it was in my administration and it’s still with us today.
“The women, given the kinds of cases that have recently come up – young babies, three months old, young children, 10 years old violated, sometimes, by old men”, she said.
Campaigners began on Tuesday on August 25, 2020 on Thursday marked the third day of protest as the campaigners have been seeking the attention of President George Weah since Tuesday when the protest began.
The protestors have been bent on not delivering their petition statement to any official of government besides the President who prides himself as the feminist-in-chief.
Though the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection was designated by the President on Tuesday to receive the petition, the protestors believed she had not done much in her capacity as Gender Minister and could therefore not regard her as the rightful recipient of their petition.
Many who had begun assembling near the Vamoma Junction -Airfield route were turned away as they tried to assemble for the third day of protest, drawing attention to the government and raising awareness about the issue.
“They just assaulted us, saying that nobody is gathering and instructing us to go home,” a lady named Facia Harris told Front page Africa.
“Most of the officers then began assaulting us; as a result the protesters are going into hiding.
Former President Sirleaf told reporters who followed her into her residence that she could not sit and watch the women from her compound without showing solidarity for an issue that has always been of national concern.
The protesters have earlier wanted for president Weah to receive their petition but he was not able to show up due to some security concerns.
Some supporters of President Weah have argued that it was not safe for him to show up at the scene where anti-rape protest were gathering
for his personal security.
More than 900 cases of rape have been reported in 2020 alone in Liberia.
Protesters brutalized
