Police in Sierra Leone adopt UN-drafted guidelines on sexual abuse
28 July 2008 - Sierra Leonean police have adopted new policy guidelines on sexual abuse and exploitation that have been drafted by
United Nations officials as part of their efforts to reduce the widespread levels of violence against women and girls in
the West African country.
The policy guidelines, the first in the region, were drafted by the conduct and discipline office, the gender adviser
and the UN Police section of the UN Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL), according to a statement issued in
Freetown by the office on Saturday
This week UNIOSIL is also conducting workshops for managers, officers and other personnel in the Sierra Leonean police
force. The funding for the whole project came from Norway.
UNIOSIL said it had drafted the guidelines in response to a request from the family support unit of Sierra Leone's
police to provide training to police officers on preventing domestic violence, cruelty, assault, sexual exploitation,
abuse and harassment, which are prevalent across the country.
ENDS