UN Women, Kingibe, advocate grassroots actions to end SGBV on PWDs, others

By Nsikak Ekpenyong

In commemoration of the 16 Days of Activism on Sexual Violence against Women, the United Nations, UN Women, the senator representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ireti Kingibe and the Minister of Women Affairs, among other stakeholders, have called for increased grassroots actions to end Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) against Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).

Daily times reports that this call comes as a result of the alarming rise of SGBV incidents, particularly targeting women with disabilities.

Speaking at a media briefing and orange lighting of UN House, held, Tuesday in Abuja, wit this theme: Unite! Invest to prevent violence against women and girls, the UN Wowen Representative to Nigeria & ECOWAS, Beatrice Eyong, said the appeal seeks to address a critical gap in existing efforts to combat violence against women.

She, however, lauded the wide implementation of the VAPP Act, adding that unity and more funding by key stakeholders should be channeled towards campaigning against SGBV.

She emphasized that the need to include PWDs in the conversation is also an effort geared towards a more inclusive approach to eradicate gender-based violence.

She said:”The violence against persons Prohibition Act of 2015 was signed into law in Nigeria on the 23rd of May, 2015. The main force of the law is to eliminate violence in private and public life, prohibit all forms of violence against persons to provide maximum protection and effective remedies for victims and punishment of offenders and for other related matters.

“You know, most times we talk about gender based violence against women and girls, the real photo of women living with disabilities have not really been drawn in our minds. I have always known that women with disabilities have many different challenges, but I never understood the magnitude because we hardly talk about it.

“We just flow over it but I want to say this also time we look at women living with disabilities, women living with HIV and AIDs. It is heartening to note that the VAPP Act has been domesticated in almost all states of the Federation.

“We must sustain the momentum by investing resources, establishing and strengthening mechanism for polarization and effective implementation of the act.

“I still am calling that we still need more funding so that we can actually implement the child rights act. It is not enough to domesticate them but now we need huge investments to make sure that these different acts are actually implemented. While this period provides a chance to shine a spotlight on the global scourge of violence against women and girls, our commitment to ending gender based violence should be continuous year round.”

On her part, Kingibe, while advocating grassroot campaign against SGBV, said: “In the FCT, I have got something called Orange allowed, which is down to the grassroots to the wards because I cannot know when a woman is being violated in Nyanya when I am in Maitama.

“So, in the next few days, towards the end of the 16 days, we’ll be calling for Orange marshals. Everybody will go online and sign and you will then be the monitoring body in your respective communities.

“We have been interfacing with security agents so that we can have more women, especially in the places where you have to report. It’s much easier as you know, for a woman to report violence if she’s talking to another woman than a man.

“We can only make that impact when we’re united. In the Senate, I have also worked out a program where each committee, I’m just waiting to get the dashboard, you must tell me how women are represented in that sector.”

Similarly, the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohaneye, said: “We are committed in the Federal Minister of Women affairs to provide leadership and support for our collective efforts in eliminating violence against women and girls with the particular focus on gender based violence and harmful traditional practices.”