MONROVIA-The Paramount Young Women Initiative (PAYOWI), the Organization for Women and Children (ORWOCH) Community Healthcare Initiative (CHI) women rights organizations in Liberia, alarms over reported contradictions of Justice Gloria Scott’s interview with the police investigators as indicated in a statement on Law and Democracy page and reprinted in Frontpage Africa.
The rights-based organization calls on the police to be professional in its investigation of the gruesome ‘alleged armed robbery’ at the one of Justice Gloria Scott during which her granddaughter was murdered.
The tragedy is not just a terrible reminder of the dark days of the country’s civil war, but also a case of society-wide brutality against women and girls. The rights-based organizations emphasize that the event at the Virginia mansion of former Supreme Court Judge Scott is a sad reminder that the safety of women and girls continues to be neglected.
The women’s rights organization recalls that former Chief Justice Scott alerted the media about threats against her life, but that her pleas for assistance and security were unfortunately ignored.
Women’s rights organizations are troubled by the lack of consideration given to Justice Scott’s request for security at the time given the fatal assassination attempt at the house of Justice Scott is an implicit indicator that little is being done to address the safety concerns of women and girls in our society.
The statement released in Monrovia noted. “We must always strive to safeguard the safety and security of all members of society, especially women and girls who are frequently left vulnerable to acts of violence, such as armed robbery.”
We note that Liberia is a signatory to many human rights instruments including the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The Declaration on CEDAW specifically calls on state parties to take measures to ensure that law enforcement officers and public officials responsible for implementing policies to prevent, investigate and punish violence against women receive training to sensitize them to the needs of women.
In light of this critical commitment, we call on the government of Liberia to launch a full-scale investigation into the incident and the perpetrators brought to justice, as they anticipate that the investigation will be timely and that the perpetrators are caught and brought to justice “We wish to emphasize that a speedy investigation is needed and that all involved with such a devilish act are brought to justice and made to face the full weight of the law.”
PAYOWI, ORWOCH, and CHI said they are committed and remained engaged with the women of Liberia, civil society actors, the media, and all other stakeholders to continue to advocate for social justice for all.
“We stand with Justice Scott and all other women and girls who are victims of armed robbery and other forms of violence in society. And we will continue to shout for getting justice.” The statement by Paramount Young Women Initiative (PAYOWI), Organization for Women and Children (ORWOCH), and Community Healthcare Initiative (CHI) concluded.
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