As the MeToo Movement tornado has touched down in The Gambia, rape cases are spiralling out, implicating more ‘sexual predators.’ A Kaur-based Immigration officer and a top official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are now facing accusations of rape from women who broke their silence on sexual assault cases.Police spokesperson, ASP Lamin Njie, told this medium that the investigation was proceeding as of Tuesday and declined to shed more light on the preliminary information regarding the Immigration officer (name withheld) facing rape allegations. He added that the Police will provide update later.
Last week, former beauty queen Fatou “Toufah” Jallow mounted allegations of rape against Gambia’s former longtime ruler Yahya Jammeh. The move prompted many women to muster the courage to tell their story.
When asked about the number of rape cases that are on the investigators’ desk, ASP Njie said he cannot provide any statistics as cases are being reported in various police stations.
A long-held culture of silence has left many victims of rape or sexual assault to live behind the anonymity thus protecting predators from being exposed let alone prosecuted. Some of the victims never recover from their ordeal, and ended up dying…
But the Gambia’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Aboubacarr Tambadou, commended Toufah for breaking her silence. Mr. Tambadou also urged more victims of rape to come forward.
Additionally, the Justice Ministry expressed Monday its readiness to investigate allegations of rape facing a top official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Gambia Bar Association (GBA) President, Salieu Taal, who spoke to this reporter, commended young women for mustering the courage to come out and tell their story. He expressed hope that this will provide the basis for authorities to file more charges against Jammeh “to hold him accountable for his exploitation of these young women and many more who are affected.”
The Bar President commended the #BringJammeh2Justice campaign led by Reed Broody, acknowledging the great job they are doing to support the victims of Jammeh and his cronies, but also to put the plight of Gambian women on the world map.
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