28 Sierra Leone Overview of the events A small number of cost of living protests was recorded for Sierra Leone, and it is likely that some events went unreported at the time they occurred. Two brief episodes in 2022 that were triggered by the rising cost of living were significant, chiefly because of the heavy-handed and extremely violent state response. The first was a protest by hundreds of women in the capital, Freetown, who marched through the streets on‘Black Monday’, 4 July, dressed in black, carrying signs and decrying government failure to act on the rising cost of living. Shops and businesses closed in support of the protest. Two political leaders(including the only woman political leader in Sierra Leone, Femi Claudius Cole of the Unity Party) had been arrested earlier for having called for protests on social media. Dozens of women protesters were arrested during the protests and were reported to have been beaten and sexually assaulted by the police. 11 Just over a month later, following a two-day national strike, larger protests reportedly of‘hundreds’ of people erupted in Freetown as well as in Kamakwie and Makeni in the north, areas where the current opposition party has its support base. The security forces used live ammunition to fire into the crowds, while protesters threw rocks, burned tyres and beat police. As many as 21 protesters were reported to have been killed, as well as six police officers, in the violence, while hundreds were arrested. The government set a curfew and shut down the internet. President Julius Maada Bio, whose resignation protesters were demanding, declared protesters to be ‘ terrorists ’ and stated that they were from the political opposition, while other government ministers declared it an attempted coup against the government. 12 Protestors and grievances Women, notably women of middle age and older, apparently market stallholders, spearheaded the protests in July, and were again prominent in the protests that followed in August. There were reportedly hundreds of protesters in July, and while the cost of living and of food and energy and transport prices were the core grievances, these were closely linked to failures of governance. One woman protesting in August explained to Al Jazeera reporters: ‘One, we do not have freedom of speech, and two, there’s no respect for us, the women 13 , and our economy is down, down, down, and the cost of living are very high. Because of it we’re suffering, we’re suffering.’(Al Jazeera English 2022a, sc. 1:26 onwards). The August protests saw a broader range of citizens involved, and videos of the protests showed younger people, both men and women, mostly apparently groups facing poverty and precarity, take to the streets. The reasons for their anger and frustration were clear and pressing, centred on the high and rising costs of food and energy, particularly transport fuel. 11 See(Thomas 2022; CIVICUS 2022; Kanu 2022). For video of the protests, see(Wi Yard 2022). 12 See(Fofana and Inveen 2022; Douglas 2022; Akinwotu 2022; Peltier and Barry 2022; BBC News Africa 2022). For video of these events, see(The Associated Press 2022; CNN 2022; Al Jazeera English 2022b)sxs0078 13 This may be a reference to police beatings and sexual assault reported by women protesters in response to the July protests(CIVICUS 2022).