In Senegal, the Miss committee at the heart of a sexual assault scandal

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It was a former beauty queen who opened Pandora’s box. Ndèye Fatima Dione, Miss Senegal 2020, revealed last week to have been the victim of sexual violence during a trip organized by the committee. She even claims to have fallen pregnant after the assault.
In the wake of his confession, the word is freed. Other candidates denounce an unhealthy functioning in the competition, a host who regularly makes advances to them and favors them during the competition if they accept.

But the president of the Miss organizing committee trivializes the matter. Worse, she declares to the attention of Ndèye Fatima Dione during a press conference: “SIf you are raped, it is because you have been looking for it. She is major!“.

Statements in the form of electro-shock: to pronounce these words is to apologize for rape. However, since January 2020, in Senegal rape is no longer a crime but a crime with a ten-year limitation period.

Several associations for the defense of women are launching a petition for the dissolution of the Miss Committee. The text collects more than 60,000 signatures. They demand the opening of a judicial investigation behind the scenes of the competition.
On social networks, they also used the keywords #metoo or #balancetonporc and ask the Senegalese to film themselves to express their support for Miss 2020.

Women – but also men participate. For her part, the Minister for Women officially encourages the victims to seek compensation.

In the meantime, however, the chair of the committee has gone back on her remarks. Amina Badiane posted a video in Wolof to apologize.

She didn’t convince anyone. One of the sponsors of the Miss Senegal Committee, the automobile distribution group CFAO, has broken off its partnership: it no longer makes any of its cars available to candidates or organizers.
The e-media group, owner of the Itv channel, no longer wants to see its logo associated with the ceremony. Others are encouraged to follow.

And yet filing a complaint for sexual violence in Senegal remains a difficult journey: the victim is often singled out, the law still struggles to be applied. Another woman can testify: Adji Sarr, the employee of a massage parlor who accused political opponent Ousmane Sonko of having raped her. This affair had sparked violent riots and deeply divided the country, but the word ofAdji Sarr hadn’t really been taken seriously. The story of Ndeye Fatima Dione will (maybe) help change things.


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