International Media Highlights Guinea Women’s Caravan

On September 28th, 2009 hundreds of women and girls were subjected to individual and gang rape and sexual assault by the Guinean Security Forces in broad daylight. Women were threatened with sticks, rifle butts, and bayonets and kicked, pummeled with fists, and beaten before, during, and after the sexual assaults.

After months of international diplomacy and the work of local and regional civil society groups and an assassination attempt on Captain Camara, a peace agreement was signed in Burkina Faso in January 2010.

While the agreement paved the way for a national unity government, and a return to constitutional law through presidential elections on June 27, 2010, it did not heal the social rifts caused by the brutal September 28th events – especially within the female population. Some spouses of the soldiers and women in the military defended their husbands and themselves and said the civilian women were responsible for the events of September 28th. The female protesters clung to their democratic right to demonstrate without having to fear for their lives or sexual safety.

Women in Guinea were historically integral in the struggle for freedom and national unity. They will be a key element in Guinea’s presidential elections this month as 53% of the voting population.

BEFORE quickly responded to a request from the Guinean Minister of National Solidarity for Women and Children to support a series of dialogues, media campaigns and reconciliation efforts with local military and civilian women’s groups in the major cities throughout the entire country of Guinea.

Leaders from unions, youth groups, military wives associations, and local groups plan the Women's Caravan of Reconciliation.

Read about the Women’s Caravan in French or English on ReliefWeb.

To support the women of Guinea, take action today.