Losing girls: post Ebola in Sierra Leone

opendemocracy.net/openglobalrights/yanoh-kay-jalloh/losing-girls-post-ebola-in-sierra-leone

Yanoh Kay Jalloh 13 August 2015 (2015-08-13T09:30:00+01:00)

The effects of Ebola on Sierra Leone will be felt long after the country
is declared Ebola-free, and girls are being particularly ostracized and
stigmatized.

Schools in Sierra Leone opened in mid-April 2015, eight months after

they were closed to stop the Ebola virus from spreading. But even
though schools are open again, nothing is the same. Reminders of Ebola’s destruction are
everywhere, and a new type of vigilance permeates daily life. School staff use thermometers to
check for high temperatures. Buckets of chlorinated water are placed strategically in schools,
with an encouragement to wash hands and wash often. And only a small number of students
have actually come back to class. Some are working to support their families. Others are
taking care of younger siblings. Sadly, some are deceased. But there is one population that is
disproportionately missing: girls, especially pregnant girls.

The Ministry of Education in Sierra Leone has banned girls who are “visibly” pregnant from
taking the standardized exams that are needed to graduate, justifying this decision by saying
that pregnant girls “always fail” these exams. These girls are also not allowed to attend class,
as officials believe it may have a negative influence on other girls.

Of course, teenage pregnancy is not a new phenomenon in Sierra Leone, and the ban on
pregnant girls has been in place since 2010. In fact, in 2009, districts in Northern Sierra Leone
automatically dismissed any girl who was pregnant; they also would dismiss the boy who
impregnated her, if identified.

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Flickr/Global Partnership for Education (Some rights reserved)
Girls arrive to school in Sierra Leone.

So if this school “pregnancy ban” is not unique, why are we talking about it? And how is it
linked to Ebola?

The rate of teenage pregnancy in Sierra Leone, already at 33% before the outbreak, has
reportedly increased since the outbreak of the Ebola virus, though exact figures are hard to
verify. While some individuals have linked the rising rate of teenage pregnancy to “idleness”—
presumably caused by school closures during the peak of the Ebola epidemic—this does not
account for the vulnerability and potential risks for girls compared to boys in crisis situations.
UNICEF has anecdotal evidence that sexual assault and transactional sex among underage
girls is on the rise, and last year a UNICEF representative confirmed that they expected
gender-based violence to surge as a result of the Ebola crisis and instability. Some girls have
resorted to selling sex to pay for necessities such as food since their parents or other
caregivers can no longer provide for them, or are dead.

When the first lady of Sierra Leone, Sia Nyama Koroma, a well-known spokesperson for
children’s rights, also endorsed the pregnancy ban, it was not only a stark contrast from
previous initiatives (that she and the administration previously endorsed), it was also an
additional letdown for the already abandoned young girls.

In analyzing the weakness and inability of the Sierra Leonean health system to deal with the
Ebola outbreak, Alicia Aly Yamin illustrates the further marginalization of women and children
in accessing health services. Indeed, the rippling effects of the Ebola outbreak have
deteriorated access to and enjoyment of most socioeconomic rights, including the right to
education. By banning young women and girls from school due to pregnancy, Sierra Leone is
further alienating and disempowering an already marginalized group. Although this ban existed
five years ago, the social destruction caused by Ebola has exacerbated its effect, compounding

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multiple rights violations. The ban fails to recognize the criminal acts of sexual offenders, the
vulnerability of girls who may be orphaned or abandoned due to Ebola, and the inefficiency of
the social and legal frameworks to protect these girls.

In addition, focus groups that I interviewed in Northern Sierra Leone in 2011-2013 indicated
that pregnant girls as well as girls known to be sexually active do not receive much support
from their families. Many are called “Raray girls”, or prostitutes, and families stop giving the
minimal resources they have to support these girls through school. Because some
communities support the punitive ban on pregnant girls, the government has little impetus to lift
it.

Yet, girls that get an education are more likely to escape poverty and live more productive
lives. We know that educated women are more likely to ensure that their own children are
educated; we also know that educated women are more likely to have fewer children. Given
the poor economic state of Sierra Leone, it is an urgent priority to educate everyone, but girls
and women are especially in need due to their increased risk factors and marginalization.

Several civil society organizations in Sierra Leone are now mobilizing stakeholders to ensure
that these girls are not denied their right to education. This includes the Girl 2 Girl
Empowerment Movement which (G2G) and the 50/50 group of Sierra Leone, an organization
that campaigns for equal representation of women in decision making in Sierra Leone.

But the reluctance of the government to act is limiting the effectiveness of these actions. The
political will is simply not there, and with recent shifts in the government, addressing the
pregnancy ban is not a priority. In addition, Sierra Leone is not yet Ebola-free, so fighting the
disease continues to be everyone’s main concern.

We know that education provides a step towards a better future. Excluding any girl from this
opportunity without support or alternatives alienates her and harms the larger community as
well. Right now, with Ebola leaving so much destruction, Sierra Leone needs all the human
capital it can get. The government is not in a position to deny education to any member of its
population with the capacity to rebuild the country in the wake of this crisis.

About the author

Yanoh Kay Jalloh holds an MPH from Mount

Sinai School of Medicine. She has worked on
women’s empowerment programs, as well as
community and economic development
programs, in Sierra Leone since 2010.

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