Violence against women: FG reassures Nigeria Governors’ wives

Nigeria’s Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to fight to a logical conclusion, the scourge of violence against women and Girls in the country.

This was just as the First Lady of Ekiti State and wife of the Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Mrs. Bisi Fayemi unveiled effective strategies of both legal and policy framework with which Gender-Based Violence (GBV) could be eradicated in the country.

Professor Osinbajo gave the assurance on behalf of the Federal Government at the 6th Network Conference of Sexual Assault Referral Centers in Nigeria held at the International Conference Centre in Abuja on Wednesday.

Osinbajo, who spoke through Zoom with other stakeholders, said that GBV had always been a global pandemic that had often been underreported due to society’s stigmatization or total silence of victims.

He explained that it was high time government around the world looked beyond just legislation to fix the problem of GBV and tackle it headlong,”a systematic dysfunction of cultures and social norms that do not prevent sexual violence.”

The Vice President noted that measures must be put in place to evolve new strategies in tackling cases of gender based violence in the country. He lauded members of the Nigeria Governor’s Forum for declaring a state of emergency on GBV urging civil society organizations to evolve ways to end the menace.

While moderating the second session of the conference, First lady of Ekiti State, Erelu Bisi Fayemi, urged that all hands must be on deck to ensure that proper policy and legal framework was put in place across the states of the federation to end GBV.

In an interview with DAILY POST correspondent, Mrs. Fayemi elaborated on the policy and legal framework for fighting GBV, saying: “We already have the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act, which has been domesticated by 17 states in the country, there is need for other States including the FCT to follow suit. We also have the child Right Acts which help in protecting the rights of children, particularly the Girl Child. Quite a number of states in the northern part of the country have not domesticated the child Right Acts; this Act can at least enable us to hold perpetrators accountable.

“Another area is education for prevention. We need to do a lot of work particularly in schools right from primary school level and at homes as well. We need to bring up our boys differently and our girls differently. Our boys need to be brought up to respect women as their colleagues while our girls need to be brought up to be independent and be able to survive on their own.”

She urged stakeholders at the conference to partner with the Governors’ wives” Forum to support the advocacy against GBV.

There were also remarks from the Ondo state Governor’s Wife, Mrs Betty Akeredolu, Co-founder of Arewa MeToo, Fekharriyyah Hashim, Secretary National Human Rights Commission Tony Ojukwu, among others who lend their voices in support of Mrs. Fayemi’s listed strategies.

They all called for global action to bridge the gaps to ensure essential services for survivors of violence during the COVID-19 crisis.