Sierra Leone: Women face human rights abuses in the informal legal sector

Sierra Leone: Women face human rights abuses in the informal legal sector

Index AI: AFR 51/002/2006
Date de publication: 16 mai 2006
Catégories: Afrique, Sierra Leone

This report finds that women in rural Sierra Leone have few protections from discrimination and other human rights violations and abuses. They face formal and official discrimination under the law, which is then compounded by the unlawful exercise of powers by Chiefs. Women are forced by a lack of formal protection from the government into situations where their rights - civil, political, social and economic - are violated on a daily basis. The document considers customary law (formal and informal sectors); the impact of illegal adjudication by chiefs on women's human rights; international standards, draws conclusions and makes recommendations.