A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

given rise to problems within the home. 397 For example, dynamics of power and control become
apparent in domestic violence in Liberian families after they resettled in the United States: “[M]
ost Liberian women did not work. The men did. In a way, they controlled the women. Then war
came. Everything changed. Men found
themselves humiliated whether in
refugee camps or in America. They no
longer had the means to support families
properly.” 398 Men perceive that women
now are “disobeying” and are resisting the
traditional systems of power and control
that were prevalent in Liberia. 399
Violence during war furthers the misconception
that violence against women
is acceptable. 400 In describing domestic
violence in the Liberian community, one
public hearing witness stated:
The effect of the war on domestic violence is that for an already-existing
problem that we have in the Liberian culture, where we consider domestic
problems as something that only the family deals with, the war has actually
aggravated that problem, because rather than finding ways – rather than
finding peaceful ways to solve problems…perpetrator[s] of these problems,
just go ahead and they become aggressive towards their domestic partners…
And when they are arrested, they don’t realize how aggressive the laws are in
this country against domestic violence perpetrators. 401
Relatives see domestic violence as a family issue and generally discourage Liberian women from
reporting these circumstances. 402 Furthermore, strong, enforceable laws that protect victims and hold
offenders accountable contrast sharply with the lack of enforcement in Liberia. As one interviewee
noted, the “protections existed back home but no one cared to enforce those laws.” 403 A male
community leader recounted the following to the TRC:
[T]here is a story about…a young man who came from Liberia. He had
an argument with his girlfriend so he got mad. He stopped the car on the
side of the highway and began to beat her, and the police stopped him and
went to intervene. He told them, ‘I’m beating my momu.’ He was promptly
arrested, of course, and he learned a lesson in American culture and the legal
system. 404
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