SGBV Advocates Call For Statutory Policies To Curb Menace
By Ekanem Asuquo
Stakeholders in the advocacy space clamouring for drastic measures against sexual and gender based violence in Nigeria have called for policy document from the government to tackle the menace.Stakeholders Call For State Policy Against SGBV.
Speaking at a one day step down training on sexual exploitation,abuse and harrassments held Calabar, the social justice crusaders said it is high time for legal enactment of crafted to deal with the situation.
In his opening remarks,the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health Dr Iwara Iwara said gender- based violence often results in health challenges for survivors,hence.the peculiar interest of the ministry in exploring viable solutions to the challenge.
Represented by the gender focal officer in the Ministry,Mrs Felicia Ayim,Dr Iwara sued for effective collaboration to tackle the prevailing challenges frontally in order to secure a bright future for women,girls and the vulunarable in the society.
Iwara revealed that the workshop was informed by the need to develop a common framework for onward presentation and adoption by government with a view of curtailing incessant cases of SGBV across the state.
He sued for effective collaboration between stakeholders to guarantee effective ànd coordinate responses for optimum results.
In her presentation, Mercy Ejini elaborated on the various modes of sexual exploitations and harrassments noting that concrete measures need to be adopted to check the excesses of perpetuators.
On the existing legal provisions to curb GBV, Deborah Asuquo, from the International Federation of Women Lawyers advocated for drastic enlightenment campaign to acquaint the citizenry and the police with available laws needed to accelerate trail and guarantee conviction.
In his submission, William Arikpo sued for seamless reporting route to guarantee prompt response from intervention service to mitigate collateral damage.
Participants at the training workshop drawn from civic society groups, religious and traditional institutions as well as youth groups were unanimous in their demands for state policy framework tailored towards addressing the prevailing challenge.
