The Elite June Association (EJA) over the weekend held a one – day workshop on rape and sexual harassment for students.The workshop was held on Saturday, May 25,
2019 at the Joseph Jenkins Roberts (J.J. Roberts) High School on 12th Street, Sinkor, Monrovia Liberia.It was graced by several students, guests and members of EJA.
One of the facilitators from the Peace Corps, Mandy Mcleary said “SGBV usually happens due to unequal power and expectation of and between men and women.”
But she notes that the world is changing and women are not set aside like they were in the old days.According to Mcleary, though women are the ones that cook, however they are now in school and are helpingto change the world.She warns men to stop the violence against women.For her part, Deborah Strother of the Elite June Association explains that one can be violated physically, emotionally and sexually.
Deborah who is also a classroom teacher, narrates that a child can be violated in their homes, schools and from other places. She says sitting on opposite sex lap is also a form of sex violence.Able Sneh of the June Care Foundation urges students to stay away from sex until they reach 18 years.He says sexual encounters with children below 18 constitute rape, cautioning men in Liberia of the need to desist from rape or gang rape.Mr. Sneh explains that rape or sexual harassment
is the act of forceful penetration of any hole on a person’s body, or the act of illegally touching, talking to a person of the same sex or opposite sex.The workshop brought together over seven high schools within Monrovia and its environs to include J.J. Roberts High School, St. Peter Lutheran High School, Tubman High School and the N.V.
Massaquoi High School.Giving the overview of the workshop, Essana Menssah, says the workshop is aimed at creating awareness among students so as to avoid rape and sexual harassment.She indicates that it is the group’s own way of giving back to society by impacting the younger generation of the Liberian population.“This workshop is to create awareness about rape and sexual harassment among our young generation,” she says.
She encourages students and participants of the workshop to take it very seriously because the issues of rape and sexual harassment are dangerous for the society.
For his part, EJA president Henry Carter stresses the importance of the workshop urging students to use the knowledge acquired for its intended purpose.
Elite June Association is a legally registered non – for – profit group in Liberia consisting of talented, potential and vibrant individuals from diverse background.
It has been in existence for a little over two years and it has been giving to orphanages, disabled and the underprivileged within society.By Ethel A Tweh–Edited by Winston W. Parley
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