Senegal: Rape on the Rise

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 000032

DEPT FOR AF/W, AF/EPS, AF/RSA, DRL/AE

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI SG
SUBJECT: Senegal: Rape on the Rise


1. (SBU) Summary: Senegalese women's associations are mobilizing in
support of a draft law to criminalize rape. After achieving notable
successes in gaining parity on gender issues such as schooling for
girls and allowing a woman to pay her family's medical expenses when
her husband is unable to do so, women's groups have now turned their
attention to improving domestic living conditions. Many
demonstrations have taken place around the country as activists work
to sensitize people to the problem of domestic violence in all its
forms; physical, mental, and verbal. However, according to media
and civil society reporting, rape remains commonplace. What's more,
rape within a household by a family member is barely reported for
fear of reprisal. End summary.

The Increase in Rapes is Causing Fear
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2. (SBU) In late November 2008 numerous women's groups staged angry
demonstrations to protest Senegal's intolerable level of domestic
violence. In Senegal, a girl, a boy, or a woman is raped almost
every day. According to GRAVE (Research and Action Group against
Women and Children's Violence),an NGO working to eradicate domestic
violence, some 400 rapes occurred in 2007. From January to November
2008, 195 cases of rape and sexual abuse were documented by APROFES,
a women's NGO based in Kaolack, Central Senegal. In discussions
with CLVF (The Committee to Combat Domestic Violence) and RADI
(African Network for Integrated Development),they noted the high
number of rape victims coming for counseling every day. There are
newspaper reports of at least one case of rape per day. Quite often
the victims are underage girls and male talibes (Koranic students)
and in one case the victim was allegedly two-years-old. Very often,
rape is followed by pregnancy, psychological trauma, infanticide of
an unwanted baby, ostracization from the family, and/or the death of
the victim.


3. (SBU) Minors are often raped by much older men from inside their
family household and usually by a very close family member (uncle,
father, first cousin, etc). As a result of societal pressures, it
is very hard for a victim to file a lawsuit when the victim and the
accused are closely related. Meanwhile, when a talibe is raped by
his/her marabout (religious leader/teacher),parents often tend to
withdraw their initial complaints (ostensibly after being pressured
by other followers of the marabout). As a result, lawyers and
judges have a hard time prosecuting the guilty. In addition, women
and girls are not victims of just rape: they are also victims of
sexual harassment, domestic violence, underage marriages, and female
genital mutilation.


The Examples are Endless
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4. (SBU) The litany of rapes in Senegal is endless and while they
are reported in the media, it is fair to say that even then they are
probably underreported. Some examples include:

-- In the Guediawaye suburb of Dakar, a fourteen-year-old girl was
raped and left pregnant; the guilty man was sentenced to only two
years in jail and given a fine of USD 4,000;

-- Also in Guediawaye a mentally unstable man raped and killed an
eleven-year-old girl; he was lynched by angry neighbors;

-- In Mbacke, in central Senegal, an eighteen-year-old girl was
kidnapped, gassed, and raped by four men; the rapists ran away and,
even though the police continue their investigation, they have yet
to be found;

-- In Mbour on Senegal's west coast, a fifty-one-year-old marabout
raped a two-year old girl; the man is in prison awaiting trial;

-- Over a six-month period, a "marabout" in the Dakar suburb of
Rufisque abused his "talibes"; the accused was investigated for
sexual abuse and pedophilia, but he was released due to a lack of
evidence. This man was identified by "Avenir de l'Enfant", a
Senegalese NGO working to shelter "talibes" and street children; the
NGO has appealed the case;

-- In Tambacounda, in the eastern part of the country, a mentally
ill man raped and abandoned a sixteen-year-old girl in the swamps;

-- In Gueule Tapee, near Dakar, three men raped a thirteen-year-old
girl who subsequently became pregnant; during the trial, none of
them accepted paternity; however, they were all condemned to 10
years in prison and had to pay CFA 3,000,000 (USD 6,000) in fines.


Government Looking to Criminalize Rape
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5. (SBU) "If the parliament were to vote on legislation that

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criminalizes rape in Senegal, I would be the first to vote for it",
said Minister of Justice, Madicke Niang before the National
Assembly, when responding to the questions from female Deputies
about domestic violence and rape. As of today, rape is considered
the equivalent of a misdemeanor, and the guilty are jailed for only
3 to 7 years (Article 320 of the Penal Code, Para 5). Most of the
time, however, convicted rapists serve no more than a year in prison
or the victim or the victim's family withdraws the complaint before
the accused is brought to trial. Ministry of Justice statistics
estimate that 47 percent of accused rapists go unpunished and are
released by the Court without going to trial. As a result, a
national committee was created to study the problem of rape and to
develop proposals to stop its proliferation. The committee is
composed of representatives from the Ministry of Justice, the
Ministry of Women and Family, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry
of Education, RADHHO, the Association of Women Lawyers and other
lawyers, women's associations, and NGOs working on domestic
violence.


COMMENT
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6. (SBU) Rape is a real problem in Senegal, with an extremely high
rate of incidence in Dakar's poor suburbs. Even if some rapists are
prosecuted and sentenced to prison, women's NGOs and associations
are pushing the National Assembly to upgrade the crime of rape and
sexual violence to that of the equivalent of a felony, with an eye
to increasing the length of prison terms. Senegal also faces major
societal hurdles due to its conservative nature. Due to cultural
taboos, rapes are seldom discussed and the ostracization of the
victim is the norm. For its part, the government can look for ways
to augment the education of the most vulnerable about the dangers of
rape, sexual abuse, and domestic violence. End comment.
Bernicat