Sierra Leone declares sexual assault emergency after number of rape reports double

President makes penetration of minors punishable by life imprisonment

A five-year-old girl poses with her doll as she sits in her wheelchair one year after a sexual assault her family says left her paralysed (REUTERS/Cooper Inveen)

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.

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.