The African Platform for Human Rights and Governance (APHURG) is calling for the immediate arrest and prosecution of individuals seen in an infamous video circulating on social media, abusing and humiliating an older woman who they accused of being a witch in the Gardnersville Community.
APHURG, through its Executive Director, Bowoulo T. Kelley, laments that this gross human rights violation was video recorded and is currently being circulated on various social media platforms in Monrovia.
The senior citizen who appears to be in her mid eighties is seen in the infamous video in a confused state of being, as one suffering from dementia or another aged, related illness, being physically abused by some barbaric individuals claiming that she was a witch.
The organization highlights that the case of elder abuse is not in isolation, as older persons especially women in the rural areas have been subjected to these violations in most cases resulting to mob actions against especially older women accused of being witches.
The organization says it is the duty of the state to ensure the protection of all citizens especially the most vulnerable in the society, by instituting measures that would curtail violence, and in this case by locating, and punishing the perpetrators.
The organization notes that the state has the responsibility of taking specific measures that are commensurate with the physical, economic, and social needs of this vulnerable group, by ensuring that older persons are treated with dignity. It says negative attitude towards older persons, gives rise to discrimination and stereotyping thereby diminishing the dignity of the individual.
The human rights organization says the failure of the state to take these measures resorts to the abuse of older persons and a deliberate violation of their fundamental human rights which it is under duty to protect.
