At least 15 men in Grand Kru County have been sent to the 12th Judicial Circuit Court in Barclayville for allegedly failing to provide consistent financial support for their children, county Gender Coordinator Regina Walker said Wednesday.
Walker told the Liberian Investigator through on-phone interview that the rising cases of “non-persistent support” are placing heavier burdens on women and worsening poverty among children. “When these women brought their complaints, I called the men in for discussions. Some of them told me they were not working, so they could only provide L$500 (Liberian dollars) a month, while others said their children could go to their new homes for daily meals,” Walker said.
According to a recent report by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, child support neglect has become one of the leading domestic issues in Grand Kru, surpassing other forms of domestic violence.
The Grand Kru County Gender Coordinator warned that the behavior of some men — abandoning children and starting new families elsewhere — risks undermining children’s education and long-term contribution to national development. “This kind of neglect has a negative impact on the future of the children and sometimes deprives them of education,” Walker noted.
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Beyond child support, Walker also raised concerns about how some families are allegedly compromising sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) cases, including rape. Since her appointment by President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, she said, her office has received no official rape reports from the community or at the police level, suggesting that cases may be quietly settled through traditional means. “Rape is a serious crime, and perpetrators should not walk with impunity through compromise or traditional settlements,” she said. “They must face the full weight of the law.”
She stressed that public awareness and community engagement are crucial to breaking the culture of silence around SGBV. Her office has contracted a consultant to conduct a survey on SGBV cases in Grand Kru, which she described as an important step toward documenting the scale of abuse and shaping national policy responses. She also appealed for more logistical support from the central government, noting that her office only has one motorbike, which often runs out of fuel, limiting outreach efforts. “I am ready to fight against gender-based violence and prosecute anyone found liable,” Walker said. She concluded by adding, “But we need mobility and support to reach communities across the county.”
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