Despite some setbacks, LURD rebels controlled the northern third of the country and was threatening the capital by mid-2003.

The LURD military assault against Monrovia began July 19, 2003, shelling the city heavily during its advance.

Thousands of women mobilized their efforts, staged silent nonviolence protests and forced a meeting with President Charles Taylor and extracted a promise from him to attend peace talks in Ghana.

As a result, the women were able to achieve peace in Liberia after a 14-year civil war and later helped bring to power the country's first female head of state, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

The story is told in the 2008 documentary film Pray the Devil Back to Hell.