Residents of Awka, Anambra State Capital, on Thursday, joined a statewide road walk in commemoration of 16 days of activism against Gender-Based Violence in the state to raise awareness of the increasing cases of rape and gender-based violence in the state.
The roadshow was organized by the State Multi-Stakeholders Action Committee on Prevention of Gender-Based Violence, domiciled with the State Ministry of Women and Social Welfare, in partnership with the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, and the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC.
It witnessed awareness talks and discussions on the subject matter, as well as the distribution of sensitization materials on the dangers of rape, defilement, and violence against women.
The State Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Mrs Ify Obinabo, revealed that the backing the government is giving the exercise signposts its commitment to end all forms of gender-based violence and negative widowhood practices across the state.
She said the government is taking serious steps to address the anomaly, one of which is the establishment of Children and Gender-Based violence in the state.
Obinabo also explained the government’s decision to establish the State Multi-Stakeholders Action Committee on Prevention of Gender-Based Violence, which was intended to garner the support of all relevant stakeholders in the fight.
“What we want to achieve by this sensitization is to inform residents of the state of the mechanism placed by the government to check this ugly trend.
“It aims to enlighten victims on the avenues to explore to get justice, while also warning perpetrators of such atrocities that Anambra is no longer safe for their nefarious activities.
“So far, we have secured a lot of convictions in GBV-related cases and many are still coming because we are not going to sweep any such matter under the carpet,” the Commissioner vowed.
She also warned people of the state to abstain from any form of negative practices against widows, adding that such will not be tolerated, as there are already measures put in place for the prosecution of offenders.
For his part, Obinna Maduforo, the State Coordinator of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), explained the reason behind the 16 days of activism from November 25 to December 10.
According to him, the initiative came about in response to the increasing cases of gender-based violence and the need to stand up as a society against the anomaly.
Some residents who spoke during the exercise, Eze Michael, Dr Emmanuel Agbasi, and Susanna Adibe, all said they are in support of the renewed drive by the State Government to end gender-based violence in the state, noting that the damage to young girls is numerous.
However, they stressed the need for parents to teach their daughters the virtues of decent dressing, sound morality, and self-control.
According to them, this will significantly reduce the young girls’ exposure to incidences of rape and defilement.
