After widespread protests in Senegal over the rape of women and their murder, 2020 saw a law change to make rape a serious offense instead of a misdemeanour. These events opened up a dialogue about sexual assault, shame, and accountability. The conversation was led by a pop singer who bravely shared her own story.
Lady Mounass, a pop star from Senegal, sings me a song in her Wolof language at her home two hours south of Dakar.
I lack the strength to fight
It is not even possible to argue.
I lost my confidence
You betrayed me
You chose what was most important to you
Please, consider women
Lady Mounass is well-known for her sexy lyrics and distinctive style. But this song is quite different. This song details her emotional trauma after she was raped in 2011 by two men.
She says, “It’s difficult for me sing this song unaccompanied since the words are a description about what actually happened to my,” “I often cry myself to sleep. It’s a shameful thing that I live with every day.
Lady Mounass claims she went to police, and one of her attackers were arrested. However, they were later released without charges. Although her family wanted her silence about the incident, Lady Mounass revealed the truth during a Senegalese television interview last year.
“The presenter kept asking me questions like, “You seem to have an interest in this particular issue, and you seem to be particularly sensitive about this topic.” The tears started to flow and it was hard for me to contain my emotions.
It was a shocker that rocked her entire life. Some thought her provocative style gave men the wrong impression, while others suggested she was just trying to make a publicity stunt of it all. Lady Mounass says that some people tried to claim that I was doing it just to get attention. This really hurt my feelings. “My family told me, “This is precisely why we told you to keep it private.”
Many people reached out to Lady Mounass in the weeks following to share their stories of sexual assault. It was filled with horrifying stories. One woman claimed she was raped twice by her grandfather, another by her father and her mother refused to believe her.
Lady Mounass became a spokesperson against sexual violence as the stories began to come in. She joined a campaign by the government to increase awareness about sexual violence and legal support for women. That campaign was soundtracked by her song.
Senegal’s rape scandal has been a stigmatized issue that women have been reluctant to discuss. Lady Mounass decided that the shame was not hers.
For some women, being a victim to sexual violence can mean rejection from their family or community. Two young women that I met at the Senegalese refuge for victims domestic and sexual violence were subject to this fate. We changed their names.
The refuge is located in a quiet suburb of Dakar and is managed by Yacine Diouf (the daughter of a former president). Diouf says that the heavy wooden doors are there to keep away angry husbands or families. This refuge can provide shelter for between 25 and 30 women at once, along with their children. Once they are gone, they will receive training and skills that will enable them to live independently.
Deena, 19, looks much younger than she is. She is dressed in a white Tshirt and jeans. She scrolls endlessly on her smartphone. Deena was 15 when she was raped. Deena was raped at the age of 15. She became pregnant and is now the mother to a three year-old child.
She says that the police detained the man who attacked her. He gave false testimony. After a month, they let him go. He recognized the child and agreed to paternity. That was how I filed a complaint. He ran away to Guinea.
Deena struggles just $2 per day to make ends meet. “Life is difficult. “I was going to school, but I had to leave. I can’t help but to care for my child. It’s difficult, my parents divorced after this.
Sarah, also 19, is seated next to Deena. Sarah, also 19, is sitting next to Deena. She didn’t report the incident to police. Her family kicked her out after she became pregnant and discovered that she had been raped. Staff found her sleeping on the streets and brought her to refuge.
A refuge worker looking after Sarah says that in her culture, there is a lot shame associated with being raped.
Fatou Warkha, who runs an online channel advocating women’s rights, said that the Senegalese concept of “sutura”, which is discretion, can make it difficult for victims of sexual violence in Senegal to speak out. She says that Sutura makes women feel like they must hide the truth, which has made it difficult for women to raise the topic of rape in a positive way.
Warkha is one of the Dafadoy Collective’s feminist members. This means “enough is enough”. Campaigners started using the hashtag #Dafadoy in 2019, much like the #metoo movement. They also organized sit-ins against sexual violence.
A series of sexual assaults on women in that year led to mass protests. Bineta Camara (23), was strangled to death after her murderer attempted to rape. Her case angered not only feminists but also a wide range of society.
El Hadji Elias Ndoye was a young graduate who was among the 3,000 who participated in the demonstrations at Place de la Nation, Dakar. Ndoye says that men are essential to these protests because of the patriarchal nature here.
“Some people accuse my of being under a woman’s thumb, but it’s time that women’s voices are heard. Because their daughters, their sisters and their families are most vulnerable, the silent majority of men are there for us.
Mamadou Maktar Gaye – the head of Jamra, one of the most powerful Islamic organizations in the country – was also protesting. Jamra and he stood with their “sisters” to protest Gaye’s “scourge of rape”.
He says, “It’s about men changing their behavior.”
Protests led to a change of law, which activists such as Warkha have long fought for.
On 10 January 2020, President Macky Sall declared rape a crime after a unanimous vote of parliament. Rape cases now have a sentence of 10 to life in criminal court, whereas previously they were tried in a magistrates’ court with a maximum of 10 years.
Senegal’s 1999 law made rape a crime. In 2019, 1,026 reports were made of sexual violence. Half of these were reported to have involved rape. However, it is difficult to find exact numbers.
The Ministry of Women, Family and Vulnerable People stated to the BBC that they do not have any figures on the actual number of women affected. In addition, the reported statistics about rape often underestimate the extent of the problem.
Now, steps are being taken to make it easier for women to report sexual assault to police. Redesigned police stations will see women met at the reception and taken to a separate area where they can talk to a female officer.
These changes are part a EU-funded project led by Commissaire Binetou Guisse (a senior police officer whose job is to monitor violence against women in the country).
Women from the community, who are important intermediaries, also collaborate with police. They are called “badianu goch”, which means paternal aunt. This is an important role in Senegalese families. To protect children and vulnerable women, the government trains badianu goch.
Guisse says, “These women tend to know the truth and will report it to the police.”
Guisse believes that the changes are having a positive impact on domestic and sexual violence reporting.
The Association of Senegalese Jurists provides free legal advice in clinics throughout the country. They have been at the forefront of women’s rights in Senegal since the 1960s. Although they claim to have recorded over 3,000 cases of sexual assault in 2021, they point out that there aren’t clinics in all 42 of the country’s departments.
Staff at an AJS bureau informed us that the new law was more complicated and is resulting in a longer legal procedure.
“There are many men being tried, but not one man has been convicted. This is partly due to the lengthy new procedure that requires extensive investigation,” states Aby Diallo (AJS president) and a former senior officer in police.
This longer legal process could be counter-productive.
Diallo does not believe so. Diallo says, “It’s an excellent law, but it needs to be applied better, more magistrates, and more awareness in the community about the operation of the new law.”
She explained that many rapists were being released from prison within a matter of months under the old law. This was having a devastating effect on victims. Diallo says that tough sentences are what will most likely drive home the severity and gravity of these acts.
It’s evident that there are many victims of sexual assault still waiting for justice, despite not having a single conviction.
Lady Mounass hopes that the song she wrote about her experience will inspire other women. “I feel a sense responsibility and have a platform as singer. She says, “I felt that I had a responsibility to do something about it.”
“I am calling on men to end the culture of rape, and stop making it something women feel they must keep quiet about.”
Listen to Assignment: When is rape a crime? BBC World Service.
