When things fall apart: Liberia shows the way to deal with gender-based violence by establishing special courts and laws to try rapists and through empowering women and girls.

• Author: Ackerman, Ruthie

TYPE IN THE WORDS "LIBERIA RAPE" AND "AFTER THE WAR" AND GOOGLE'S SEARCH ENGINE WILL RETURN 470,000 RESULTS IN 0.38 SECONDS.

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One such result is a blog written in 2008 by Azama who witnessed a group of Liberian women share their testimonies of rape and other brutalities before a large audience at the Monrovia City Hall. "They then tore off my clothes and raped me one after another and told my brother to have me, when he refused, they threatened to kill him," explained a victim from Lofa who was raped by eight men, including her brother, during the invasion in 2003 of the rebel group Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy. "And so I beg him to, which he did because I didn't want them to kill my only living relative at the time. My brother and I do not speak up till present, when he sees me, he goes another place as I also do; we are not on good term." The woman said that she still used a wheelchair most of the time because of the pain. "I'm still suffering from the rape."

This particular rape happened towards the end of the 14-year Liberian civil war, which started in 1989. Amnesty International reported that between 60 and 70 per cent of the Liberian population suffered some form of sexual violence during the conflict., although the numbers are probably a lot higher because many rapes go unreported. Unfortunately, Liberia is not alone where rape has been used as a tactic of war. Conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Darfur, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Rwanda also hold that distinction.

What is often not reported, is that countless more acts of sexual violence have occurred since the conflict ended in Liberia. Just because the war is over does not mean that the war against women has ended. According to the United Nations, there were 349 rapes reported between January and June 2008, a significant increase over the previous year. Access to health facilities to address emergency needs and psychological care are inadequate, making matters worse for those who have been raped.

In fact, the same impunity that allowed rampaging soldiers to rape women and young girls during the war still exists in many parts of Liberia today. "Liberians thought that since peace has been restored in the country, sexual based violence against women and children would have decreased, but this is not the case, it continues to increase on a daily basis, especially when these people know that the survivors know them", said...