Women in Liberia

In 2005, Liberia became the first African country to elect a woman, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, as president. In fact women played a major role in ending the era of civil conflict in Liberia,  mainly through non-violent protests.

In terms of media and communication use and access, gender does not seem to be a limiting factor in Liberia.

Men and women of the same socio-economic status and regional location appear to have generally equal access to all main mediums and periodic use of them is nearly identical.

The real differences are seen with different levels of access and use for women across regions and locations within the country. A woman’s access to media and technology in Liberia is linked to her location and her socio-economic status.


Access Trends

Chart 1


Chart 2


Media Use Trends

Chart 3



Chart 4


However, radio is one medium (not shown in chart) that reaches the largest cross section of women- percent of women with access and weekly viewership is higher than 80 percent despite any other limiting factors- education, income, region or age.

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