WEB FEATURE AI Index: AFR 51/007/2006

Date: 19/05/2006

Sierra Leone: March for women's access to justice

More than 300 people joined a march with Amnesty International (AI) in Sierra Leone on Wednesday (17 May) to highlight the difficulties experienced by women in accessing justice in the rural parts of the country. The march, from the AI office in Freetown, ended at the office of the Attorney General, where a copy of AI's report on the issue was handed over to the Attorney General himself.

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, in customs and in rulings in matters of personal status, marriage and inheritance. Although there is a system within the formal sector through the Local Courts that officially adjudicates on these matters, Chiefs often perform these judicial functions illegally.

For further information, please see:

Sierra Leone: Women face human rights abuses in the informal legal sector (AFR 51/002/2006, 17 May 2006) http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAFR510022006