Fatou A. "Toufah" Jallow (born April 19, 1996 in

Soma Soma may refer to: Businesses and brands * SOMA (architects), a New York–based firm of architects * Soma (company), a company that designs eco-friendly water filtration systems * SOMA Fabrications, a builder of bicycle frames and other bicycle ...

) is a

Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

n beauty queen. She became known in 2014 for her accusations of rape and sexual harassment against Gambian President

Yahya Jammeh Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh (born 25 May 1965) is a Gambian politician and former soldier, who served as President of the Gambia from 1996 to 2017. He was the Chairman of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) from 1994 ...

Life

Jallow belongs to the

Fulbe The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people are an ethnic group in Sahara, Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. Inhabiting many countries, they live mainly in West Africa and northern parts of Central Africa, South Sudan, Darfur, ...

ethnic group. Her parents are Alpha Jallow and Awa Saho. She attended Nusrat Senior Secondary School up through 12th grade. In 2014, she won the title of Miss July 22 in the national beauty pageant organized by Gambian Dictator

. At this time she was 18 years old. In September 2014 she started a teacher training course at

The Gambia College The Gambia College is a Gambian tertiary institution with campuses located in Banjul and Brikama. Its origins lie in the Yundum Teachers Training College, which was founded in 1952 and became the Yundum College in 1955, and the Gambia School of Nu ...

in Brikama. According to a story in ''Kibaroo News'' in June 2015, she went missing for several weeks after being invited to the State House in

Banjul Banjul (, (US) and ), officially the City of Banjul, is the capital city of The Gambia. It is the centre of the eponymous administrative division which is home to an estimated 400,000 residents, making it The Gambia's largest and most densely ...

. In the period after the competition, Jammeh was accused of repeatedly sexually harassing her and offering her gifts. According to the report, she was brought to Jammeh several times against her will. He had publicly announced several times that he wanted to marry Jallow, a proposal she refused. As Jallow explained in 2019, in July 2015 she fled over the border to

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

(Senegal), where she turned to human rights organizations. On August 6, 2015, she received

asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea * ...

in Canada and since then has lived in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. There she completed therapy and studied

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

. Around 2019 she worked as a customer service representative for a telecommunications company and was involved in a women's refuge.

Rape allegations

At the end of June 2019, she accused to the human rights organizations

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

and

TRIAL In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

that Jammeh had raped her. Jallow's name was mentioned at her request in order to encourage other women to report on such experiences. After winning the beauty competition on December 6, 2014, she said that she was invited to visit Jammeh several times in the following months. According to her statement, she received 50,000 Dalasi, and later another 200,000 Dalasi from him.

Reactions

Jammeh himself did not comment on the allegations.

Ousman Rambo Jatta Ousman Rambo Jatta (born 13 June 1969), known as Rambo, is a Gambian politician. He is currently a councillor in Old Bakau and deputy leader of the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC). Political career Jatta was a membe ...

, party official of the Jammeh-founded

Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction The Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) is a political party in the Gambia. Founded by army officers who staged the 1994 coup, it was the dominant party of the Gambia from 1996 to 2016 under president Yahya Jammeh. His ...

, called the allegations a lie, stating that Jammeh "is very respectable God-fearing and pious leader who has nothing but respect for our Gambian women." A driver at the time also denied Jallow's allegations of rape. The Gambian Justice Minister and Attorney General, Abubacarr Tambadou, and Salieu Taal, President of the Gambia Bar Association (GBA), commended Jallow for her courage in breaking her silence, and encouraged other victims of rape to speak out, in the hope that they would provide the basis for more charges to be filed against Jammeh. Women's rights organization Female Lawyers Association Gambia (FLAG) joined them in this view. Further accusations against high-ranking politicians were reported in the following days. In September 2019, the APRC's interim leader,

Fabakary Jatta Fabakary Tombong Jatta (born 16 November 1952) is a Gambian politician who has served as Speaker of the National Assembly since 2022 and the leader of the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) since 2017. Early life and ...

, called the allegations a lie, saying that Jallow "should even be thankful to ex-president Jammeh for the monetary support", and denounced the allegations as attempts to tarnish Jammeh's image. Jallow rejected this statement as unsubstantiated attention-seeking, and noted that she had not accused the APRC as a party, but Jammeh personally, and that the APRC should not speak for him. On October 31, 2019, Jallow testified before the

Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission The Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) is a truth commission in The Gambia to investigate the Yahya Jammeh era from 1994 to 2017. The process from the announcement of the commission to its launch lasted from 20 July 2017 to 1 ...

to come to terms with Jammeh's reign, and repeated and clarified her accusations. She has published, together with Kim Pattaway, a book ''Toufah, The Woman Who Inspired an African #MeToo Movement".''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jallow, Fatou Living people Gambian beauty pageant winners 1996 births Rape in Africa Violence against women in the Gambia