One Year On - No Action of DNA Machine, as SGBV Cases Rise

By Tina S. Mehnpaine

When the Liberian government on March 8, 2021, unveiled the Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) testing Machine women, girls, and right groups saw it as a relief and an end to the culture of impunity of sexual violence across the country.

Both survivors and advocate grouping felt that the day of justice for such menace has arrived.

All of these hopes seem to be dashed the drain because March 8 of this year will  be exactly a year since the DNA machine was unveiled in fulfillment of President George M. Weah's promise to anti-rape protester.

“Today is a new beginning and it will begin our journey to revolutionize rape investigation in the country,” President Weah told Liberians during the unveiling ceremony.

The same period, the President declared rape a 'National Emergency' but has the machine investigated a single rape case as there is a wave of sexual abuses daily?

James Crayon, John F. Kennedy Medical Center (JFKMC) Public Relations Officer in an interview told The Stage Media (TSM) that, “those are very huge equipment and you need to set them up properly before it can be functional, and that is why we are trying to build a separate facility for the machines, but for now, the machines are not functional.”

Maminah Carr Gaye, Assistant Minister for children and head of operations of the Anti-SGBV Road Map established by the president in 2021 informed TSM that Liberia currently has three DNA machines and they all are in good condition.

Gaye said the machine is not in use because both the Ministries of Health and Social Welfare are still trying to construct a laboratory at the JFKMC where the DNA equipment will operate.

“I can confirm to you that we currently have three machines in the country and these machines are to be kept in a warmer temperature which the Ministry of Health is working on, so that is where we are,” she said.

 Even though the government of Liberia through the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection has not provided regular updates on rape cases since 2020, President  Weah in his recent state of the nation address disclosed a reduction in Sexual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV)cases in December of 2021, compared to the reports of 2020 December.

Weah said, “As a Government, one of our priorities is to reduce the incidence of SGBV by 30 percent by 2023, through the provision of appropriate support services and access to justice systems. I am pleased to report that significant progress is being made to make this a reality.”

Weah told Liberians through the legislature that traditional and religious leaders are also beefing up the efforts to change the story and narratives of survivors and victims, as well as supporting prevention efforts of sexual and gender-based violence

With the increasing media report of rape cases involving two-year-old babies among many cases, the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection since its 2020 quarterly report on rape cases across the country, has not provided updates to the public about statistics involving SGBV cases.

The Ministry's 2020 report indicated that a total of 2,240 SGBV Cases with rape and gang rape constitute 1,546.

 Montserrado County, however, recorded 1,073 cases amounting to 78.8 percent of the total number of cases while Grand Gedeh and Nimba Counties recorded 185 and 167 cases respectively.

“It is even troubling to note that rape and sodomy constitute 1,462 cases, gang rape 84 cases, Sexual Assault 191 cases, and Physical AssaultDomestic Violence 323 cases,“ Gender Minister Williametta E. Saydee-Tar said at a news conference in Monrovia.

Ne-Suah Livingstone, a right advocate who is involved in ensuring that many survivors pick up their lives said DNA machine is a very important factor in the fight against rape but holds that in the case of Liberia, the machine is not helping as anticipated concerning the adjudication of cases.

“I have not been able to get statistics as it relates to facts gathered after the DNA test was carried on, but what I know is that DNA is something that ought to be used to help substantiate accusation, especially where pregnancy occurs during rape to establish whether the alleged perpetrator is the father and this term to relate to the case as to whether rape did happen and other issues surrounding that,” Livingstone said.

Livingstone added, “One machine is not enough considering the counties and local communities, and because rape cases are increasing daily, having one machine may also slow down the judge’s decision on cases as he or she has to wait on the result before deciding.”

Contrary to the reduction in the number of rape and SGBV cases mentioned in President’s Weah SONA, Livingstone said the cases are not dropping.

She said “When the government says few months, how long is it because before the president’s state of the nation address, we have had a lot of new cases. Of recent two- and three-years old babies are also raped so, those cases were not presented to him before the state of the nation address, to be real, the cases are not realistically dropping.”

“The cases are so many that they have not been adjudicated and we have to speed up when it comes to rape cases because it is one-way survivor can easily pick up their lives and the faster we go with cases, the likelihood that people will get to know that this is not a small crime,” Livingston told TSM.

Livingstone said the situation of rape in Liberia is so serious to the point that if the nation does not stand up most of the girls' children will be a victim of such a ‘devilish act.’

It can be called in 2018 at the end of the United Nations Mission in Liberia presented a DNA analysis machine to the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection.

The machine was never been used on grounds that there were no trained Pathologists in the country to operate the equipment to analyze forensic evidence of rape and aid in the prosecution of cases.

On June 17, 2019, a member of the Joint Task Force on Sexual Gender-Based Violence in the country came up with an official answer as he announced that the only DNA machine in Liberia has not been effective because it is faulty and needs an expert to operate.

“The machine was given to the government and it needed experts who could work with it, but Liberia did not have any Pathologist. The government sent three people out of the country and only two were successful,” he said.

Mr. Gabriel added that even though Liberia has two pathologists to run autopsy, they have not been able to use the machine because it has Problems.

According to the UN Report, Sexual violence against women increased by 50% in Liberia during the pandemic. The Ministry of Justice documented more than 600 reported rape cases between January and June 2020, a rate close to reaching annual levels.