Women are Equivalent to Dust: How Sierra Leone treats women

Women in Sierra Leone get treated like close to nothing

Women's rights have always been an issue in our world today, but in Sierra Leone they have close to nothing to themselves. In the African country, Sierra Leone, women are taught to value their bodies more than their minds. Women are getting beaten, raped, and they have no education. In my opinion, they are living life to a fraction of what it should be lived to.
In the first article I read it explained how the birth rates in Sierra Leone and the raping is out of control. Their are girls that are 15 who are walking around pregnant and people think that it's normal, because it is in Sierra Leone. Most of the women are victims of rape and sexual assault which goes unpunished. Women who are victims of sexual assault usually get kicked out of their house and have no where to go besides the man that abuses them. It's their only way of survival. The government does not support women at all either. Any law or policy that is created, women have no say. The government is fully aware about the issues going on, and they choose not to do anything about it. (Okeowo)
The second article I read was more in depth about the education in Sierra Leone. The ebola disease has swept over the country, leaving many kids not able to go to school. The disease has force the school system to shut down entirely. People living in Sierra Leone have a hard time finding work and money. Many people have to sell lights or other goods to make their way through life. In 2013 a quarter of children were not in school in 50% of teachers had no qualifications. This disease has caused the loss of income and jobs in the in the country. This disease has also put a strain on education and has worsened problems in the country along with the problems they already have. (Al Jazeera)
The last article that I read explained how the domestic violence and rape issues the country is having lacks any enforcement of the laws. Over 2/3 of the population lives on $1.25 a day and less than a quarter of the women can read or write. If a woman refuses to have sex with her husband she can be summoned to a traditional leader to be reprimanded. After A woman's husband's death he still can control her. She can be forced to marry his brother or lose her land, home and children. A law that was made in 2007 said that the the maximum penalty for domesticated violence is two years in prison or a fine of 5 million Leones which equals $1200 in US dollars. In a recent study people are asked if it's acceptable for men to hit women and they all said that it's very acceptable. The enforcements of laws and support that women get is very slim.
In conclusion, women'a rights in Sierra Leone is a very important issue that needs to be addressed. Women's rights in any country is an issue but in this country it's taken to a different level. No woman should be beaten and raped and the man doesn't get a punishment. This issue is inhuman and needs to be addressed by all countries over the world. This issue shows how women get treated very differently than men in other countries and how it's accepted in many countries.


Works Cited

Education falls prey to Ebola in Sierra Leone." Al Jazeera. EBSCO eBook

Larson, Krista. "For women in Sierra Leone, another kind of civil war." Usa
     Today, The Associated Press, www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/01/
     12/sierra-leone-domestic-violence/1828623/. Accessed 19 May 2017.

Okeowo, Alexis. "Sierra Leone is one of the worst places in the world to be a
     girl." National Geographic, Jan. 2017, pp. 136-51.