According to Chapter 16.1 of the Penal Law, “a parent, caregiver, guardian, or relative who engages in any act
or connives with any other person to subject a child to sexual molestation, prohibited child labor, or such other
act, that places the well being of a child at risk is guilty of a second degree felony."
(ii) Drug abuse (Article 28)
According to Penal Law 16.6, “a parent or any person eighteen years old and above, who sells, sends a child to
procure or serves alcoholic beverages, cigarettes or any narcotic or intoxicating drugs to a child or who employs
a child in the sale of such beverage, cigarettes or narcotic and intoxicating drugs is guilty of a misdemeanor of
the first degree.”
(iii) Abuse and torture (Article 16)
Article XII, section 7.1 of the Children‟s Law states that, “No person shall subject a child to torture or other
cruel, inhumane or degrading punishment.”
Section 7.2 states, “Any correction or punishment of a child shall be justifiable for the child concerned.”
Section 7.3 states, “ No correction of a child is justifiable for any child if it is unreasonable in kind or in degree
relative to the age, physical and mental condition of the child and no correction is justifiable if the child by
reason of tender age or otherwise is incapable of understanding the purpose and fairness of the correction.”
Section 7.4 mandates the Ministry of Gender and Development to progressively facilitate parental guidance
programs aimed at developing the capacity of parents to discipline and guide their children without use of any
form of violence.
(iv) sexual exploitation and sexual abuse (Article 27)
While the Women and Children Protection Sections of the Liberia National Police were established an have
been functioning since 2006, the Children‟s Law institutionalized the role and duties of these units to
investigate and handle of sexual exploitation, abuse, domestic violence, criminal allegations against children
and other cases requiring police protection for any woman and child.
Despite challenges in terms of limited safe homes and services, Women and Children Protection unitspartnership with NGOs-continue providing services to survivors of gender based violence in 2008 to improve
coordination on GBV issues. The Joint programme has been extended until 2013, while at the same time the
Government of Liberia has raised and extended the National Plan for the Prevention and Management of
Gender Based Violence, initially launched in 2006 until 2015.Some of the joint programme achievements to
date include development of targeted manuals and capacity building of relevant staff in psychosocial support
and GBV area, creation of network for men against GBV and large scale campaigns against sexual abuse and
exploitation and abuse, provision of services to children and women victims of gender based violence and
establishment of GBV case tracking database.
The Children‟s Law introduced provisions for mandatory reporting of abuse of children. Complementary
amendments to the penal code have been proposed which would make it a second degree misdemeanor for
parents, caregivers, teachers, guardians, nurses or any other service providers who fail to report a case of child
abuse or neglect.
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