Silent War

"Mosquito was the first person who raped me. Then he ordered his men to continue the act. Nine other men continued to rape me. . . . After misusing me to their satisfaction, the rebels left me alone in a very hopeless condition. . . . Even now the pain is still in me, which is creating problems in my marital home, because my husband drives me from my home and says that I am barren."

Surprisingly, disparity exists even among the victims of Sierra Leone civil war. Unlike men and boys who recover from the most terrible war through various reintegration programs, women are excluded from those programs and left alone to fight their continuous 'silent war'. The indigenous culture in Sierra Leone forbids women to publicly come forward and speak. Many women who were courageous enough to discuss their problems were left bereaved and secluded from their society. The relentless rape during the war gives sharp rise to HIV/AIDS or other types of sexually transmitted diseases rate in Sierra Leone. In 2001, U.N. stated that among 170,000 of people who were infected to HIV/AIDS, about 90,000 of them were women between the ages of 15 and 49. Even though, women are having hard time reintegrating to their community, the disparity in their culture keeps them silent. If Ishmael were not a boy, but a girl, he might not have been able to publish his memoir. Both women and boys confront post-war dilemma. What Sierra Leone needs the most is compassion and recovery of love and respect. What happened to Sierra Leone that used to boast its genuine hospitality? What happened to people who valued the community as a whole? Even though the war has been stopped, people in Sierra Leone still suffers from silent war where they have to count on their own.

http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/vol18no4/184sierraleone.htm