Published: March 16, 2026
On February 23, Wantoe Teah Wantoe, a supporter of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), claimed in a Facebook post that the administration of President Joseph Nyumah Boakai has recorded the highest number of rape cases in Liberia’s post-war history.
In his post, Wantoe stated that 2,759 rape cases were recorded in 2024 and 1,735 cases were reported in 2025, though he did not provide data on the situation for previous governments.
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Rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) remained persistent and serious challenges in Liberia since the end of the country’s civil wars in 2003.
During the conflicts, sexual violence was widely used as a weapon of war, leaving deep social and institutional scars that continue to affect post-war Liberia.
In the years following the war, successive governments, including those of Presidents Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, George Manneh Weah, and Joseph Nyumah Boakai, have reported thousands of rape cases through the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection and the Liberia National Police.
While reported figures fluctuate annually, rape consistently accounts for a significant proportion of all reported gender-based violence cases, with children and adolescent girls making up a large percentage of survivors.
The Claim
Wantoe posted this to Facebook: “A quick reminder: this government has recorded the highest number of rape cases in our country’s history since the post-war period. In 2024 alone, 2,759 rape cases were recorded, and 1,485 of those involved children under 18. In just the first three quarters of 2025, 1,735 rape cases have already been reported. The same 2025 report also shows 6 sodomy cases recorded.”
Rating Justification
To verify this claim, we contacted the claimant via WhatsApp and asked for the source of his information. Wantoe shared a November 23, 2025, press release from the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, in observance of the 16 Days of Activism against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence.
It is important to note that the release he shared only contains data for 2024 and 2025, and not the three administrations.
We then reviewed media reports and official statistics on rape cases published by Liberia’s Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, and development partners covering the administrations of former Presidents Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, George Manneh Weah, and President Boakai.
The Ellen Jonson Sirleaf Administration
During the Sirleaf administration, more than 7,385 rape cases were recorded between 2009 and 2017, although complete data for all years of her tenure are not publicly available.
In 2010, Amnesty International reported that in 2009, 807 cases of rape were reported in Montserrado County alone during the Ellen Administration.
A November 24, 2016, article by FrontPage Africa, quoting then Gender Minister Julia Duncan Cassell, revealed that in 2011, 1,476 rape cases were reported, with 1, 501 accounting for 2012, and 1,215 for 2013.
The article continued that in 2014, rape cases amounted to 682, 588 in 2015, and 610 in 2016. In 2017, the Gender Ministry said that of the 892 gender based violence (GBV) cases reported in 2017, 506 were rape cases.
Although complete data for all years of former President Sirleaf’s tenure from 2006 are not publicly available, the available evidence between 2010 and 2017 indicates that during her tenure, more than 7,380 rape cases were recorded.
The George Weah Administration
During former President Weah’s six-year tenure from 2018 to 2023, more than 10,200 rape cases were reported, based on available annual statistics and media reports.
According to the Spotlight Initiative Liberia 2019–2021 Results Newsletter, published under the Spotlight Initiative (a UN-EU partnership), from 2018 to 2021, about 8,690 SGBV cases were reported in Liberia. Of this number, the newsletter says 80%, or 6,952 of the cases, were rape.
In 2022, the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection reported that some 1,975 SGBV cases were reported, 66.4% or 1,311 of which were rape cases.
Additionally, in 2023, a total of 3,204 SGBV cases were recorded in Liberia, with rape accounting for 2,007 cases, sexual abuse for 398 cases, and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) for 791 cases.
Combined, the Weah administration recorded about 10,270 rape cases across Liberia in six years.
The Boakai Administration
Since taking office in 2024, the Boakai administration has recorded over 4,400 rape cases, based on reported figures for 2024 and partial data for 2025.
In his first year, rape accounted for 2,759 of the total number of 3,957 GBV cases recorded in 2024, according to a News Public Trust article.
Meanwhile, in the first, second, and third quarters of 2025, the Ministry of Gender said it recorded 1,735 rape cases across the country. This indicates that in two years of the Boakai administration, the Ministry has recorded 4,494 rape cases based on the available evidence.
While complete data for the first two years of the Boakai administration has not been made available by the Gender Ministry, available evidence showed that in 2024, 2,759 cases were recorded, while 1,735 cases were recorded between January and September 2025, bringing the total to 4,494.
Conclusion
Based on these findings, the claim by Wantoe Teah Wantoe that the Boakai administration has recorded the highest number of rape cases in Liberia’s post-war history is misleading.
Although the Boakai administration has recorded a significant number of reported rape cases within its first two years, available data show that both the Sirleaf and Weah administrations recorded higher totals during their respective tenures.
The Sirleaf administration recorded approximately 7,385 rape cases, while the Weah administration recorded about 10,270 cases. In comparison, the Boakai administration has reported 4,494 cases to date based on available data.
Editor’s Note:
This fact check was produced by Local Voices Liberia with support from the European Union through the Liberia Media Empowerment Program (LMEP). The funder had no say in the editorial decision leading to the production of this fact-check report. Read the original fact-check report here.
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