Liberia: Government, women's groups decry post-war sexual violence

Rising levels of reported rape and sexual exploitation of women and teenage girls in Liberia have sparked concern by both the government and women's rights groups. Despite a peace agreement in 2003 that ended the particularly brutal 14-year civil war, during which fighters sexually assaulted girls and women and sometimes used them as "sex slaves", these types of violent abuse were still common, according to Lois Bruthus, head of the Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia (AFELL), a leading advocacy group.