The Progressive Student Alliance (PROSA) at the State-run University of Liberia has announced a nationwide protest dubbed the “March for Dignity” set for Wednesday, 27 August 2025, to highlight what the group calls the “public emergency” of rape and other forms of gender-based violence (GBV) across the country.
“Every day in Liberia, nine rape cases are reported; every month, 276 cases,” PROSA secretary-general Cde. Togar Harris Williams told reporters on Capitol Hill Monday, citing 2024 data from the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection. “Survivors have been silenced for too long. We are marching so their voices cannot be ignored.”
Rising numbers, urgent demands:
Between January and October 2024, the ministry recorded 2,759 reported rapes, 68.7 percent of them in Montserrado County, according to the figures released by PROSA. The student group says the statistics point to a justice system that is “slow, under-resourced and survivor-unfriendly.”
In a statement approved by PROSA chair Cde. Justin W. Jallabah Jr., the organisation listed five key demands:
1. Survivor-centred justice reform, including fast-track rape courts.
2. Mandatory consent education in schools starting at early adolescence.
3. Expanded funding for shelters, crisis centres and counselling services.
4. An end to victim-blaming in media coverage and police procedures.
5. A national tracking system to publish rape reports, prosecutions and convictions.
A “day of defiance and hope”
The date, 27 August, was chosen to commemorate several high-profile sexual-assault cases that sparked public outrage in recent years. PROSA says it is mobilising students, civil-society groups, faith leaders, artists and labour unions for simultaneous marches in Monrovia and county capitals.
“Silence is no longer an option,” PROSA statement reads. “If the government fails to act, we will pursue every legal and civic channel to hold officials accountable.”
Government yet to respond:
Officials at the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Gender had not commented on PROSA’s announcement by press time.
