AWE Media Sierra Leone

By: Alusine Rehme Wilson  In the north-eastern city of Makeni, the scars of the brutal civil war can still be seen. One of the most striking things is the lack of respect for human dignity, which continues to affect both those who were directly affected by the war and those who were not. Women, particularly the elderly and teenage girls, often face cruel treatment within their own homes. One heart-breaking example is a five-year-old girl who suffered at the hands of her stepmother, enduring mockery, pain, and the judgment of the community. This girl in question was said to have been born in the iron-ore rich district of Tonkolili to her troubled mother, Aminata Sesay, who had been estranged from her family for seven years before returning home in November 2023, gravely ill, with a four-year-old daughter, who had lost sight in one eye. Tragically, Aminata passed away just 24 hours later, after a brief conversation with her mother. She was only 35 years old.  Her grieving mother, now car...