A Return to Life for Liberia's Women Fighters
by Abdullah Dukuly, Mail & Guardian
March 2, 2024

Monrovia, Liberia—The journey back to normal life was never going to be an easy one for the ex-combatants of Liberia’s civil war. But, it could be argued that women fighters face a particularly tough challenge.

Although former president Charles Taylor, now exiled in Nigeria, won a landslide victory during general elections in 1997, Liberia soon witnessed a resurgence of rebel activity.

Last year, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (Lurd) and the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (Model) gained control of swathes of the country.

As government militias struggled to keep hold off the territory that remained under Taylor’s control, women and girls found themselves caught up in the conflict -- both as combatants and victims of sexual abuse by the various groups.

“We were subjected to indiscriminate sex and other abuses at the hands of our commanders and their fighting men,” recalls Rebecca Gartor (19).

Khadi Williams (20) was captured in the Guinean border town of Macenta while fighting for Lurd. She says she was forced to have sex with many fighters, and now fears that this might have caused her to contract diseases.

As for Katuma McCauley (22), the war left her with a legacy that is even more permanent: a baby boy fathered by a fighter who was subsequently killed at the battlefront.

Girls and women who were away from the firing line also found themselves obliged to take on more menial duties.

“They used us as sex slaves, cooks, porters, cleaners and fighters,” says Gartor. She was speaking at a camp that a local NGO has opened to help female combatants readjust to civilian life.

Statistics of the extent to which women have been involved in Liberia’s various bouts of conflict are hard to come by.

However, local activists who work with former child soldiers believe that more girls were conscripted in the fighting that began after Taylor came to power. Before the 1997 election, the exiled leader staged a seven-year rebellion at the head of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia that deposed Samuel Doe.

With a tenuous peace having prevailed in the country since Taylor left office last August, several NGOs are offering vocational training and counselling to disarmed female combatants to help them resume a normal existence.

One of these is the Samaritan Home in the eastern suburbs of Liberia’s capital, Monrovia. It is managed by Thomas Geoffrey.

“The behaviour of the girls was abnormal when they were first brought to us by their commanders. They used to cause disturbances and fight among themselves,” he says.

“It was all because these girls had been exposed to years of a gruesome war and indiscipline. They are traumatised. But, after going through some psycho-social counseling with us, you can now see that they are gradually improving and returning to normal life.”

The girls and women at the Samaritan Home were among 1,800 government fighters who were disarmed towards the end of last year in an exercise that ended abruptly when the exchange of weapons for cash turned sour. Another attempt to disarm Liberia’s estimated 40,000 combatants is expected to begin shortly.

Evelyne Diggs (20) was attached to a guerrilla unit loyal to Taylor that was known as “Jungle Fire”. She was returning home from school in March 2003 when she was abducted to help repel the advancing rebels.

“They wanted me to become their wife, but I refused. So they gave me the gun and sent me to the war front,” she said.

Theresa Bangura, a 17-year-old, fought with the marine division of Taylor’s army: “They gave us arms to fight without going through proper military training. But I want to go back to school and live a better life.”

The administrator of Samaritan Home, Gladys Zangaa, says the organisation has catered for girls and women from various parts of Liberia.

The 40 female ex-combatants who are currently living at the home are undergoing vocational training and academic study for nine months. At the end of this period, the women will be reunited with their families and friends.

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