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By Gilbert Ekezie
Justice Development and Peace Centre (JDPC) of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos has called for collective action towards elimination of violence against women.
The group made the call at the celebration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which was held at the Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Orile, Lagos, recently.
The theme of the event was, “Orange the World, Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect.”
In his keynote address, the Very Reverend Fr. Raymond Anoliefo, Director, Justice Development and Peace Centre, Archdiocese of Lagos, said violence against women emanated from the idea of masculinity, societal norms and cultures that are probably archaic that need to be changed as well.
On the way out, he said that all hands must be on deck. “Everyone must be involved, civil society organizations just like us, religious bodies, institutions, the family must be involved and of course , the government, so that we must stop this impunity. “Perpetrators of violence against women must not go scot-free any more. We must work the talk and for all those who are victims, we make sure we encourage them to break the silence, to speak out; we must stop blaming the victims and there is a whole lot that we can do, but this conversation is just the beginning. We must continue this conversation before we can say we have got to the eldorado.”
He explained that the negative impact of violence on the woman is enormous and cannot be quantified. “From economic impact, poverty, mental issues, psychological, emotional and most times, you find out that even it affects generations yet unborn, because children who grow up in homes where there is abuse, most times end up being abusers themselves. So , you see, from father, it gets down to the children and you see the children exhibiting it in school, churches and in their areas of engagements.
“So, we just have to continue because the impact is so much.
“There is also the economic challenge. The women no longer want to fulfill their God given potentials. It affects the country as a whole, societal development as a whole, every area, the girl-child seems not to believe any more in herself. It is a very disastrous situation that we have found ourselves.”
On divorce as a last resort, the cleric said: “We would not like to call for divorce as a last resort, we believe in preventive measures. That is why the conversation must start now before they get into married life. But in cases where there is obvious threat to life, of course, in the Catholic Church for example, we encourage separation. The parties can go apart for us to see the possibility of an amicable settlement, for them to be in some form of rebuilding of the relationship that has been broken. And, in a situation where it is almost impossible, then they can always move on their separate ways, rather than killing themselves.“
Other speakers at the event include Lawrence Obineme, a lawyer, who spoke on “The Role of the Government and Institutions in Tackling the Problem of Gender Inequality and Gender Based Crimes in Nigeria.” Another lawyer, Mrs Ene Sarah Unobi, spoke on “The Feminization of Violence in Nigeria: A holistic Discourse.” While Chief CC Okafor dwelt on what he called “Sustainable Solutions for Confronting the Menace of Violence against Women.”
In the end, a communiqué was issued on what JDPC believes would be the best way to tackle the menace of violence against women.
“We acknowledge that the issue of violence against woman is one of the major contemporary issues in the 21st century. It is in recognition of this fact and the need to better advocate for the protection of the rights and welfare of women that the JDPC Lagos had to organize this programme to sensitise and ignite conversations to confront this menace,” they said.
They also agreed that there is need for better enforcement of the plethora of laws enacted for the protection of women from violence in Nigeria; that there is need to formulate gender based policies and establish a framework to monitor the enforcement of relevant laws and policies; that there is a need to create awareness among the populace on the scourge of violence against women; that there is a need to enact and enforce laws to act as deterrent to offenders. That there is need to equip and train those who work with victims of gender violence and there is need to more shelter across the six geo-political zones for the victims of gender based violence.
Others are the need to work towards the inclusion of gender education into the national curriculum across all levels of education to help curtail the root cause of violence against women; it is also pertinent to consider public/private partnership in gender equality and take proactive steps in the increasing issue of violence against women, among other positions taken by the group.
