We Are Like Aliens In Our Villages

By Alpha B. Kamara
The campaign for women to participate in Governance is reaching an unprecedented rate as women and civil society are demanding for proactive measures to ensure women are protected and made useful in all sectors in decision making.
“Women have been lagging behind for so long. Now is the time to change their position to one that will benefit the country,” said Fatmata Koroma, a cookery seller in Wellington..
She said not withstanding the stigma of being women in Sierra Leone most of them are the heads of their families and continue to upkeep their homes despite there are husbands around. She said they are still being viewed as inferiors to men and not useful in community discussions.
“Imagine, in my village we are like aliens when the male society is playing. We are forced to stay indoors until all ceremonies are done with,” she said, but added that when the women’s play is on course the men will often join in, to show that they have power over women.
“They are talking about women’s right-women’s right, all the time. I heard it on the radio and school children coming to buy rice to me, but do they ever go down to the provinces? I wonder if many of the people talking about these rights have visited the provinces when the men’s society is on play. If they have indeed gone their, they will know what I mean,” she said.
Koroma said there are many women in the provinces that have no access to information to their rights and that what they know is they must subdue themselves to the elders and husbands,” she lamented.