Throughout the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, Equipop interviews its partners about their actions to combat gender-based violence.
Kadiatou KONATE is a defender of young girls' rights. She is the interim president of the Club des Jeunes Filles Leader de Guinée (CJFLG).
What are the issues related to violence against girls and women in Guinea?
In Guinea, this is a rather sensitive issue and the figures are very alarming. Some progress has been made, although it is not enough: statistics on child marriages showed 54% in 2012 and 51% in 2018. On the other hand, issues of sexual violence and assault are on the rise. There are more and more cases of rape, often committed by relatives, neighbors, etc. As for female genital mutilation, there has been no change. The statistics have remained virtually the same for years. According to the latest demographic health survey, in 2018, 95% of women and girls had undergone female genital mutilation.
How do you combat violence against women within the Guinea Young Women Leaders Club?
We prevent child marriages. When we learn that a minor is about to be married, we try to contact her and verify the information we have. We then call on a protection service to report the case, and we talk to the victim's parents to try to convince them not to go ahead with the marriage. If we don't have time to talk to the parents and the marriage is imminent, we don't try to negotiate, but send the girl to a protection service to cancel the marriage. Only then do we talk to the parents, and in most cases they change their minds and we manage to stay in touch with them afterwards. We are active in 32 areas in Guinea. I don't have the national figures for 2020 yet, but for the Conakry area, I would say that we have been able to stop between 5 and 10 child marriages this year.
Do you have a message to share during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence?
During the 16 Days of Activism, we are conducting awareness-raising activities in island areas to discuss issues of gender-based violence and distribute school and hygiene kits to women and girls.
Everyone has a role to play: journalists must report the news accurately, civil society organizations must speak out and raise awareness among communities so that they stand with us, protection services must ensure that laws are enforced, the justice system must deliver justice to victims, and governments must ensure that the protection systems put in place in African countries and in all countries are functioning properly in order to protect girls. Currently, for us in Guinea, the most important thing is to set up a reception center to provide effective care for victims of violence.
