VICTIMS

The war was devastating to its victims; many of the Africans lives were changed for the worst. The victims of the war played a huge role being that they were caught in the middle forced to choose sides and battle against their free will. The African women received just as much suffering as the men did if not more for being female. All rebels took part in violating human rights throughout the country against women. These included killing, rape, and other sexual violence, sexual slavery, slave labor, abduction, assault, amputation, forced pregnancy, disembowelment of pregnant women, torture, trafficking, mutilation, theft and the destruction of property. Rebels mainly used forced conscription but this was not solely against African males, rape and sexual slavery were committed almost exclusively against women.

The horrific atrocities that were produced by the civil war in Sierra Leone were known worldwide. The widespread focus was directed to amputations of villagers’ limbs, and less on violence against women which was a conflict and regularly used as a tool of war. These women were raped in extraordinary brutal ways using the sexual violence as systematic weapon. While some women joined the forces of rebels, most were abducted and obligated to carry out whatever orders were delivered to them. Both male and female combatants along with the abductees were forced to take drugs to keep them on edge during the war; this has a long lasting effect causing many to still be addicted to drugs today.

Many women were seen as suffering from a term called double victimization, because they were taken against their will to join armed forces and now today victimized by their society for having played a significant role in the conflict. Among suspicion these women were treated with hostility for not staying in line with gen

der and sex roles. These women were largely excluded from the Sierra Leone peace process programs to integrate them back into society because the process focused more on young boys and men. The rape victims were constricted to marginalization, because of the social stigmas that these African people felt about rape. Many have been shunned by their own communities, families, and husbands obligated to be silent to s tray away from being disliked or hated

Because sexual violence and rape were so prominent during the civil war, this adds to the rise in cases of HIV, AIDS, and other sexual transmitted diseases. “According to the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), of the 170,000 people between the ages of 15 and 49 estimated to be living with the virus in Sierra Leone in 2001, some 90,000 were females”. The trauma and turmoil this country has experienced affects these people every day of their lives. Still till this day a tremendous amount of pain and suffering is bestowed upon this people being that they are still left in devastating situations also having institutions that reoccur memories of the war. With the diamond trade still high-flying in the African country these images are embedded in the roots of the African people’s culture.