Special Court underway in Liberia for Sexual Violence

The Liberian government has created a special court to deal with not only rising rape cases, but also other forms of violence against women. During Liberia's 14 year civil conflict 850,000 people fled their homes and at least 270,000 were killed. During the war the rape of girls and women was widespread. Since peace was sealed in 2003, sex crimes - and impunity for them - have persisted throughout the country. Although a rape law was enacted in December 2005 which made rape a crime with a maximum of a life sentence for those found guilty, rape cases have continued to rise according to rights groups. Half of reported rape cases are attacks against teenage girls between the ages of 10 to15 years old according to government statistics. allafrica.com