Sierra Leone has declared a national emergency on rape and sexual assault after a surge in recorded cases.
President Julius Maada Bio said each month hundreds of cases of rape and sexual assault are being reported against women, girls and babies.
He said fatalities included three-month-olds and that 70 per cent of survivors are under 15.
More than 8,500 cases were recorded last year, according to police statistics, just over double the number recorded in 2017.
President Bio said he wanted to bring awareness to the issue since thousands of cases are unreported because of a culture of silence or indifference in the west African nation.
Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican
AFP via Getty
A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip
AFP via Getty
A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st
Getty
The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes
Getty
A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India
AFP via Getty
The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC
AFP via Getty
An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution
AFP via Getty
A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors
The Mercury/AFP via Getty
State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya
AFP via Getty
A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic
AP
A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California
EPA
Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy
AFP via Getty
Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq
Reuters
A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France
EPA
A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day
EPA
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month
Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo
Reuters
A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota
AFP via Getty
Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month
AP
Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia
EPA
The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless
AFP via Getty
Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican
AFP via Getty
A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California
AFP via Getty
A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho
AFP via Getty
Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open
USA Today Sports/Reuters
Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally
AFP via Getty
A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port
AFP via Getty
A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador
EPA
A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank
Reuters
Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk
TUT.BY/AFP via Getty
The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron
AFP via Getty
Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus
Reuters
A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections
AFP via Getty
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy
AFP via Getty
Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead
AFP via Getty
People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad
AFP via Getty
An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel
Reuters
Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai
AFP via Getty
People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India
Reuters
Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California
AP
Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank
AFP via Getty
A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu
AFP via Getty
A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin
AFP via Getty
Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha
AFP via Getty
Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories
AFP via Getty
Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland
AP
Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk
AFP via Getty
AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix
AFP via Getty
Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio
AFP via Getty
Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya
AFP via Getty
The president said he had now made sexual penetration of minors punishable by life imprisonment.
The current law carries a maximum penalty of 15 years, and very few cases have been prosecuted.
Join our new commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies