Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Female Police in Liberia Hope to Curb Rape Epidemic

ABC reported on the deployment of an female Indian Para-military force serving with the UN Peacekeeping force in Liberia. Theirs is the first deployment of an all-female unit by the United Nations.

A direct impact of this group of peacekeepers has been to give Liberian women the confidence to report assaults directly to them- not a small achievement, given that the UN in Liberia has convicted peacekeepers with 30 cases involving sex for food in 2006 alone.



'Part of the policewomen's mission here is to encourage Liberian women to join a national police force of their own. Their belief is that the sight of uniformed women in positions of authority can reduce the level of violence against all women.'