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From Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
Wife of the Edo State governor, Betsy Obaseki, has called for close collaborations with key stakeholders if the fight against gender based violence in Nigeria will be effective and achieved the desired objective.
She disclosed this while participating in the End Gender Based Violence in Nigeria Summit put together by the Nigeria Academy of Science and the Ford Foundation in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.
The governor’s wife who was speaking on the topic “Overcoming Political Challenges in the Fight Against Gender Based Violence” commended the support of the executive and legislative arms of the Edo State government as well as the traditional institutions in the state for their support both in enacting the law and in the ongoing sensitization of the people about the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law.
Betsy who noted that gender based violence is rooted in native law and customs which generally favours men said it is critical to forge close relations and ties with certain critical players in the society if meaning change will be seen in this regard.
The First lady however celebrated the success achieved in Edo State part of which is the approval of special courts and a dedicated prosecuting team for GBV cases by the Edo State Governor, His Excellency Godwin Obaseki in a bid to ensure timely dispensation of justice for victims of gender based violence in the state.
Earlier, President of the Nigerian Academy of Science Professor Ekanem Braide in her speech at the event lamented the high rate of gender based violence saying “it is worrisome and quite unsettling to come to terms with the fact that apart from the general discrimination, women have to contend with being abused and battered. In many African communities including communities in Nigeria even today societal norms relegate women to the background as objects to be seen, admired, sometimes exploited but not heard. With insecurity in Nigeria disrupting family lives, with ongoing pandemic bringing more hardships, women need to be rescued quickly at least from this added burden called gender based violence.”
She commended the “Nigerian Governors Wives’ Forum for deciding to at least remove this burden from women. I salute the courage of the First Ladies of Edo, Ekiti, Niger and Abia States for blazing the trail to embark on the laudable project titled Strengthening the Evidence and Response Pathway for Gender Based Violence in Key States in Nigeria.”
The Program Officer, Gender, Racial and Ethnic Justice, Ford Foundation Mrs Olufunke Baruwa while calling for the sustenance of the progress made said “we must leverage this current outreach against gender based violence. I think this is one of the few celebrations we have had to mark the 16 days of activism where there has been constant talk and constant action around gender based violence and we must sustain this momentum.
Mrs Funke Baruwa said “at Ford Foundation we are definitely not just talking about it and I stand here on behalf of the Ford Foundation office for West Africa to say that we will continue to put our money where our mouth is in eradicating gender-based violence because voice must be matched with action. Our partnership with the Nigerian Governors Wives and the Nigerian Academy of Science is not just because we want to fund the project, but because we need both the private sector, Government and philanthropic organizations, all hands on deck to help in addressing this issue”.
The Country Representative, United Nations Fund for Population Activities, UNFPA Ulla Elisabeth Mueller in her speech said “gender-based violence and harmful practices such as forced child marriages and female genital mutilation continues to be a challenge not only in Nigeria but many countries of this world.
It is very often said that it is part of culture and tradition, and therefore it cannot change but I’m wondering today how many of our culture is exactly as it was 50 years ago, or even 25 years ago. Culture and traditions are dynamic and they are made by human beings.”
Remarking on the statistics she said “one in three girls are exposed to gender based violence, one in five girls are survivors of female genital mutilation, and by the age of eighteen 43% of girls are already married. These are the official numbers may I add. And what is the one thing we know without exception about gender based violence? It is under reported. So we have official data that gives us very high numbers but we know that number is much much higher. In fact its been speculated that in Nigeria alone we have as much as 10,000 every single day.”
She called for an end to the culture of silence saying “part of this under reporting is due to the silence culture we have about it. We don’t talk about it, its shameful for the survivor to stand up to say I was raped. How can that be shameful for a woman? The one who should be shamed is the perpetrator, It should never be the survivor. If we are serious about ending gender based violence, globally and in Nigeria we must end the silence, we must speak up for the girl and for the woman every single day.
