Sarifatou Jallow was unsure how her account of sexual harassment by a senior official at Gambia’s External Affairs ministry was going to be received by the public.
She had observed how days ago a groundswell of Gambians had reacted with incredulity to the graphic details by former beauty queen Fatoumatta Toufah Jallow accusing ex-president Yahya Jammeh of raping her.
While many sprang to her defense, others in Gambia’s mainly male chauvinistic society targeted their venomous criticism on her, casting doubt about the veracity of her claims.
Toufah who relishes a day in court with the exiled former leader told Human Rights Watch how she was summoned in the presence of Mr. Jammeh before being threatened and allegedly raped by him four years ago.
She had apparently rejected amorous advances from Jammeh who had unsuccessfully proposed to marry her, provoking his ire and setting a chain of events around her that would make her continued stay in The Gambia untenable.
She fled for her life and now lives in Canada where women’s rights activists are helping her bring a lawsuit against the 54-year old former president, who lost power in disputed elections in 2016 and fled to Equatorial Guinea thereafter.
But Toufah’s case had set off a tinderbox.
Multiple allegations have followed thick and fast from other perceived victims like Sarifatou who like most aggrieved women may have been reluctant to tell her story at first given the stigma attending to such a taboo subject in Gambia’s male dominated society.
Above the din, Sarifatou was finding her voice.
Toufa’s story which gained traction both locally and internationally has emboldened her to come forward and recount how she was sexually harassed by Melville Roberts, a senior official with the Ministry of External Affairs who has attracted multiple allegations of a similar nature from other women.
Roberts who is pursuing a Master’s degree in the United Kingdom has not commented but the Gambia government has issued a statement saying they are opening criminal investigations against him over the accusations.
Meanwhile Sarifatou created the hashtag #survivingMelville on social media and has been telling her story which is littered with tales of a government official with a predatory sexual instinct.
“Mel and I had an encounter three years ago when I was only 18 (just graduated from high school). He had asked me on several occasions to visit him but I never did because of the kind of parents I have and I will forever be grateful that I never did” she recounts.
She claims Roberts had promised her many material things and even proposed marriage, which she knew was not sincere.
They became sworn enemies when she spurned his advances.
She however considers herself lucky that he never got his way with her unlike other women who accused him of ‘inappropriate sexually-motivated misbehaviour’.
Several other supposed victims of the same man have been taking to social media to react and offer support to each other in the face of disbelief and scrutiny from Gambians, mostly men.
Fatou Ellika Muloshi who works as a presenter for national broadcaster The Gambia Radio and Television Services has been weighing in on the issue.
“This guy makes girls believe he’s rich, takes advantage of his position, when you ask him for help, he uses that as an opportunity to abuse and rape you. Let’s speak up girls. #SurvivingMelville” she writes.
Meanwhile Gambian female activists are spearheading a social media campaign aimed at not only removing Mr. Roberts from his post but also prosecuting him.
The Ministry of Justice is encouraging women with similar stories of rape or sexual harassment or both to come forward and tell their stories to the police.
WN/as/APA