The Head of Treasury, Sales and Trading, Access Bank Plc, Sunmbo Olatunji has said that gender violence was one of the most pervasive violations of human rights in the world, stressing that it was also one of the least prosecuted crimes.
Speaking at a public lecture organised by Genesis House in collaboration with Access Women Network and Freedom Foundation on “Nigeria’s Progress in Gender Development”, with the theme “Empower Women to End Violence”, Olatunji, the keynote speaker noted that the objective of the lecture is to spread the message of human rights violation toward women.
She said, “It is time for action to address the violence against women which traumatic effects sometimes last a lifetime. Violence against women means any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including treats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life”
She decried the high rate of violence against women and the acquiescence of this act by the society.
“Up to 70% of women experience physical or sexual violence from men in their lifetime, majority being from husbands. Women and girls comprise 80% of the estimated 800,000 people trafficked annually, with the majority 79% trafficked for sexual exploitation.
“One in three of all women and girls aged 15-24 has been a victim of violence. In societies where women and girls are undervalued or not valued at all, women are at greater risk for being abused, trafficked, and coerced into sex”, Olatunji added.
Mrs Helen Nwanbuko , the Programme Director of Genesis House speaking after disclosed that their purpose was to bring life back to those that have lost hope by the reason of one violence or the other.
She said the NGO organised the lecture to sensitise members of the public on the need to stop violence against women.
Nwabuko educate the audience about the role of Genesis House, “Genesis House is a residential rehabilitation centre for girls and women who have been victims of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation. They provides quality shelter, safety and protection for girls and young women who fall into this category and gives them the opportunity to regain their self-esteem and dignity, whilst empowering them to return to society as productive, self-sufficient individuals.
She therefore urges everyone not just to partner with them to transform more lives, but to start by becoming more aware of the ills and issues facing vulnerable women in the society.
A panel of discussants comprises of Ier Jonathan-Ichaver, Executive Secretary, Sesor Foundation; Olufunke Baruwa, CEO, Nigeria Women Trustfund; Abike Dabiri-Erewa; Olusola Adeola, Executive Secretary, Freedom Foundation, and Helen Nwabuokwu, Programme Director, Genesis House discussed about the various challenges affecting the women and urged the women to respect themselves starting from the way they dressed and approaches to people that may lead to violence against them.
They noted that men and women were the same; therefore they advised that there must be mutual respect.
Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, former federal lawmaker and a notable journalist expressed worry over the increase in violence against women, including rape, battery, widowhood, forced ejection and female mutilation among others. She speaks extensively on the various cases she handled in her days as reporter on Nigeria Television Authority. She recalled the case of an 11years old girl that was raped by two men. She quipped, “It is one of the emotional reports I did as a journalist. Though today, the young girl is now a graduate but she is now showing some signs of abnormal behavior which may have been an effect of the early childhood experience.”
She recounts the experiences of the helpless widow in Edo State and their traumatic experiences. Unfortunately, according to her, it is the same women that enforce barbaric culture on their womenfolk with great relish.
She told the audience of another experience of a man that divorced the wife because she was raped by armed robbers in his presence.
Speaking further, Dabiri-Erewa said, “It is not acceptable for anybody to inflict violence against women. A man that beats a woman has problem and should be in a mental home. Violence against women is pandemic. NGOs must rise to make more noise regularly. Every state should have a centre that takes care of that.
“It is our moral obligation to stop violence against woman. Men do what they do because they can get away with it. Dr Kadiri said that one of every four women suffers violence in Nigeria. Shocking is that more women accepts it. Among the Tivs, it is a common thing and it is said that if you have not been beaten by your husband, you have not enjoyed your marriage.
According to her, it took her and her colleagues 12 years to get the bill on Violence against person passed. She noted that the men protested when the bill was initially ‘Violence against Women’ that not only women suffer violence but the men do too. Thus, the bill was amended to ‘Violence against Persons Prohibition Act’.
However, she pointed out that the greatest challenge is the domestication of the Act in all the states of the federation.
She said, “The challenge is to domesticate the law in all of the 36 states of federation. Inspector General of Police told me that he is planning to have a desk at every police station that will address the issue of violence against women”.
She urged the women and victims to ‘stand up and speak out’, instead of ‘suffering in silence, while facing psychological trauma as a result of violence against them’.
Mr Joseph Famakid, Lagos Zonal Commander of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and Other related Offences (NAPTIP), urged women to stop violence against children. He said that it was now and offence to have a house helps who is under 12 years.
The UN declared Nov. 25 to Dec. 10 as days to raise public awareness and increase political will to prevent violence against women.
