Oyo State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Inclusion, Alhaja Faosat Sanni has inaugurated a proactive committee on Zero Tolerance to Gender Based Violence, calling on the committee to come up with resolutions and meaningful ideas that would be of great benefit to fight the menace.
Sanni, who called on relevant stakeholders to ensure zero tolerance for gender-based violence in all spheres of life noted that the prevalence of gender based violence generally has devastating effects on survivors in many forms.
She added, “This ranges from sexual to economic, psychological, geographical, cultural and class boundaries which are grave violation of human rights with negative effects that have lasting impacts on the community, family, survivors and society at large. Gender based violence also prevent survivors from using their knowledge and skills to their full potential when stigmatised,” she added.
“The committee, which is drawn from relevant ministries, agencies, parastatal and non-governmental agencies that handle women, child abuse and gender based issues in the state are saddled with the responsibility of fighting violence against women and girls, who are the most vulnerable of this menace and to equally checkmate the prevalence of rape and work out effective specialised service which would focus on the need of survivors and practices needed to stop or reduce the act to the barest minimum”, she stressed.
Speaking, the Coordinator, Oyo State Sexual and Gender Based Violence Response Team, Mrs Dupe Awosemusi said Gender based violence was an issue that should be of great concern as it affects all.
She pointed out that gender-based violence did not exclude men and boys maintaining that such abuse include domestic violence, battering, victimization, tongue lashing, domestic, verbal, economic and social abuse with special emphasis on rape of minors and old women.
“In the Nigeria legal system, constitutionally, a child below 18years of age cannot give consent and whoever perpetrates such act with such child should face the wrath of the law. In fact, most of the perpetrators use the act for ritual purposes while some are mentally derailed”, she stated.
She disclosed that most of the survivors especially the sexually-abused were always afraid to report to the appropriate quarters as a result of stigmatisation and rejection, adding that most of the survivors are not always available in court of law to serve as witness or give evidence against the perpetrators when they were charged to court.
