Publication

Five specific areas of silence relating to women’s lives in post-conflict Sierra Leone are presented. The first is the manner in which a liberal model of the family is being promoted by remnant British colonial law. Second, rape is presented as an integral tactic of the war in Sierra Leone. Third, it is argued that stigmas associated with wartime rape derive partially from policies that designate the liberal family model as the norm. Fourth, information on children born of war in Sierra Leone is presented. Finally, the inability of aid agencies to categorize children born of war within their existing classifications of vulnerable children is discussed as a major shortcoming.