September 11, 2024

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General News

Journalists, CSOs immortalise rape victim with “Tears from the Grave”

By Femi Ogunshola

Some journalists, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), parents and others gathered in Abuja on Wednesday to honour Miss Karen-Happuch Akpagher, who allegedly died from rape.

The occasion was the launch of a book “Tears from the Grave,” aimed  to immortalise Karen-Happuch.

The book was written by Mr Lemmy Ughegbe, a journalist and gender activist.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Karen-Happuch was a boarding student at Premiere Academy, Abuja.

She died on June 22, 2021, as a result of sepsis infection she allegedly contracted from rape.

The rapist also allegedly left condom inside the late student.

Ughegbe promised to do his best to  get justice for the deceased, saying that he would continue to remind the nation of the case until justice would be served.

He said that writing “Tears from the Grave” was challenging, as talking with the deceased’s mother was traumatic.

“I get traumatised each time I have  discussions with her.

“She said she was even afraid of loving her boys because she loved Karen and the world took her away.

“She said if she would love the remaining children, the world might  also take them away,” the writer said.

Ughegbe said that after three years of Karen-Happuch’s alleged rape, the police had yet to tell her mother what happened to her.

He urged that the fight to rid the society of sexual and gender-based violence should be collective.

Dr Kelechi Ofoegbu, Chairman of the occasion and Executive Commissioner, Corporate Services and Administration, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, urged victims of rape to speak up.

Ofoegbu, however, said that if the victims could not speak up, the society must be sensitive enough to be their voices.

“We should be human, aware and sensitive to the fact that people are crying around us, we must  be sensitive enough to intervene,” he said.

Grace Ike, an aspirant for the post of the Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists, Abuja Chapter, said that the book launch demonstrated collective resolve to confront and eradicate rape.

According to her, it is heartbreaking when individuals, regardless of age or gender, fall victims of rape or defilement.

She said that rape and defilement always left their victims in physical and psychological anguish.

She said that Nigerians were  confronted daily with distressing accounts of girls and women enduring unspeakable trauma due to sexual violence.

The mother of the deceased, Mrs Vivian Akpagher, while narrating her ordeal, said: “I was hurt and pained when I lost Karen.

“I have struggled through the years but I believe God is with me.

“At some points, I found it really hard.

“Nineteen years ago, I gave birth to her. She returned to me shattered in 2021.  She was my confidant, my friend.”

Vivian described her ordeal as two years of an unending storm.

“The grief may be unending but I am happy you are all here to hold my hands,” she said.

NAN reports that some others at the event also spoke against rape, urging the police to conclude investigation on Karen-Happuch’s case and bring the culprit to book. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Chioma Ugboma/Ijeoma Popoola

Gender

Foundation empowers 2,100 youth in Lagos, Benue, Ebonyi to combat GBV

By Justina Auta

Tabitha Cumi Foundation (TCF) has successfully engaged 2,100 girls and boys aged 15 to 25 from Lagos, Ebonyi, and Benue states in activities focused on preventing, responding to, and referring cases of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV).

The announcement was made by Mrs Tayo Erinle, the Executive Director of the foundation, during the close-out event of the initial phase of the one-year Scale ENGAGE-Her Project held in Abuja on Monday.

Erinle highlighted that the project, operating under the Strengthening Civic Advocacy and Local Engagement (SCALE) Nigeria initiative and funded by USAID, was implemented in collaboration with Palladium and TCF.

She emphasised that the initiative aimed to educate and empower the beneficiaries on SGBV prevention, response, and referral strategies.

“We have worked with 2,100 beneficiaries, not only girls but also boys in Benue, Ebonyi, and Lagos states, educating them on how to prevent, respond, and refer GBV cases to appropriate authorities,” Erinle stated.

She expressed satisfaction with the programme’s achievements, noting that participants in the safe spaces gained confidence to speak out against GBV, actively engaged in educating others, and contributed to reporting GBV cases.

“In addition to building awareness, the girls and boys in this program have had their financial capacity enhanced,” Erinle added.

The project established 75 safe spaces for girls and boys, benefiting 15 communities and 15 schools across the states.

Erinle recommended the establishment of more safe spaces for survivors, emphasising the need for ongoing sensitisation and engagement with stakeholders to effectively combat SGBV.

Lydia Odeh, Chief of Party at Palladium, commented on their one-year support in providing services to survivors of GBV.

She highlighted the dissemination of results, learning, and challenges to mobilise support for future phases of the project.

Dr Adedayo Benjamins-Laniyi, the Mandate Secretary of the Women Affairs Secretariat, FCTA, commended TCF for its impactful efforts in ending GBV and other harmful practices against women and girls.

She lauded the project’s exemplary leadership for creating opportunities and engagements that foster a more inclusive and equitable environment.

Awojodun Boluwatife, a beneficiary from Lagos, expressed gratitude for the valuable knowledge gained about GBV and pledged to share it with others. (NAN) www.nannews.ng

Edited by Isaac Aregbesola

Health

GBV: Only 2% of girls seek help, says activist

By Fatima Mohammed-Lawal
Mrs Oluwatoyin Adeleke, a Sexual and Gender-Based Violence(SGBV) activist, says only two percent of girls aged between 15 and 19 who are victims of violence seek help.

Adeleke spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Ilorin against the backdrop of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

This year’s theme is “Invest to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls.”

The rights activist, who is also the CEO of Olive Community Development Initiative, an NGO, quoted UNICEF as saying that one in every 20 adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 had experienced sexual violence.

According to her, sexual violence is one of the most violent forms of abuse girls and women can suffer.

Adeleke also pointed out that there was a 56 percent rise in GBV cases in Nigeria between between March and April 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown in 24 states.

“The report showed that South Western Zone had the highest number of cases compared with North Central Zone,” she said.

She warned that the consequences of GBV were both long and short term, adding that these included economic, physical, mental and sexual reproductive health problems.

“These in turn affect their children and cause huge social and economic costs for the families and the society at large.

“It leads to pregnancies and complications during childbirth.

” GBV also has economic consequences. It can limit women’s ability to participate in the workforce,” she said.

Adeleke lamented that child marriage, female genital mutilation, trafficking for sexual exploitation and female infanticide were prevalent.

CDI, according to her, promotes the rights and empowerment of women, girls or youth through partnership and capacity building to ensure social justice.

She listed some of the services rendered by her organisation to include counselling, social support, empowerment, legal aid and welfare support among others.

The activist appealed to all stakeholders to partner in reducing the burden of GBV to the barest minimum.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
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(Edited by Mufutau Ojo)

Gender

AU calls for collaborative solutions to end gender-based violence

 

 

By Oluwafunke Ishola

The African Union Commission (AUC) has called for collaboration in finding creative and constructive solutions to the protection of women and girls from sexual and gender-based violence.

 

Ms Victoria Maloka, Head, Coordination and Outreach Division, Women, Gender and Youth Directorate, AU, made the call on Tuesday in Lagos.

 

Maloka said this during the Spotlight Initiative Africa Regional Programme (SIARP) second annual review and learning workshop.

 

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Spotlight Initiative is a global partnership between the United Nations, the European Union, and the African Union.

 

The partnership seeks to end violence against women and girls, specifically female genital mutilation, child marriage and other harmful practices.

 

According to UN, violence against women is any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering to women.

Others include threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.

 

Maloka said that the high rate of violence against women and girls in the region was maintained by the persistence of harmful gender norms, gender disparities, conflicts, among others.

 

In order to resolve this, Maloka said that AU had been working with partners toward changing harmful social and gender norms that perpetuated gender inequality.

 

She called on partners to continue to make investments and be strategic with resources to sustain work being done at national, regional and continental levels.

 

“What brings us together is a vision to deliver as one, the Africa that we want, for the Africa that we want, by Africans.

 

“This would help to shape policies and make a great impact on women and girls so that they may participate fully in economic activities, political affairs and social endeavours,” she said.

Similarly, Ms Anu John, UN Resident Coordinator’s Office, Nigeria, said that gender-based violence was deep and required multilateral and multi-agency collaboration.

 

She said that Africa, and indeed Nigeria, had made progress in implementing the Spotlight Initiative since its introduction five years ago.

 

John noted that Nigeria had enacted the Violence Against Person Prohibition Act in 36 states, domesticated and implemented the act.

 

She added that advocacy was being done and there had been success stories around the VAPP Act.

 

“Gender based violence is now at the forefront of everyone’s discussion and within the UN itself. It’s part of our leave no one behind agenda.

 

“It’s one of our transformative works which the UN is supporting and wants addressed, not just at a programme level but in ensuring that Nigeria sees a shift in its protection of women and girls issues,” she said.

 

Also, Ms Meltem Agduk, Gender Programme Manager, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), said that about 200 million girls and women are still faced with gender mutilation.

 

Agduk said that GBV undermines the health, dignity, security and autonomy of its victims, yet it remains shrouded in a culture of silence.

 

She said that UNFPA was working to respond and reduce GBV, support programmes in over 150 countries and territories, globally.

On her part, Mrs Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, Executive Secretary, Lagos State Domestic Sexual Violence Agency, said that Lagos had shown its commitment in ensuring full implementation of the various Spotlight Initiative being driven by both the civil society organisations and the government.

 

 

 

Vivour-Adeniyi said that addressing gender-based violence and harmful practices required a multi-disciplinary approach.

 

 

 

“The role of the state government in reducing the menace to the barest minimum and ensuring perpetrators are held accountable cannot be overemphasised,” she said.

 

 

 

According to her, the DSVA registered 5,333 cases in 2022, noting that 70 per cent of the cases were domestic violence, while the rest were sexual violence cases.

 

 

 

“This year, we have started to do an average of 250 new cases monthly,” she said.

 

 

 

She noted that data collection was fundamental and critical to drive policies and scientific programmes and providing holistic services from a survivor-centred approach.

 

 

 

NAN reports that the three-day workshop had representatives from eight Spotlight Initiative countries, key partners and stakeholders, to evaluate effective programmatic interventions at regional and national levels.

 

 

 

The goal was to deepen impact and find innovative approaches to sustain the impact of the programme among AU member states.

 

 

 

The Spotlight Initiative project in Nigeria saw an expansion of its reach to include more Persons With Disabilities (PWD), the socio-economically disadvantaged, as well as adolescent girls and women.

 

 

 

It secured a strong basis for sustainability through the buy-in of the government and critical stakeholders at all levels.

 

 

 

The Nigeria project hinges on six pillars, namely: Laws and policies; institutions; prevention; services; data; CSOs/Women’s movement. (NAN)

 

Edited by Kamal Tayo Oropo/Olawunmi Ashafa

Education

Foundation sensitises IDP pupils on GBV, donates stationery

By Angela Atabo

Olwin Kids Foundation, has sensitised children at the new Kuchigoro Internally Displaced persons (IDPs) camp on Gender Based Violence (GBV), as well as donated stationery to their school .

Mr Olufemi Winfunke, Executive Director of the foundation made this known during its outreach at the camp in Abuja.

Winfunke said the Joyful Kids Foundation, a sister organisation of Olwin decided to build the capacity of the children on GBV to empower them against abuses and other vices .

He said: “The main goal of the intervention is to enlighten the children and also support of the IDP camp.

“We are here to pass valuable information on GBV, body parts protection, things that they should know so that they are not taken advantage of.

“We are also here to support the teachers with stationery such as text books ,pencils ,books and others because they are lacking a lot of support in terms of materials needed for the educational process.

“We will also be helping them with the construction of new classrooms as well as the completion of the classrooms they have.

“This is because most of them don’t have windows, so when it’s raining, water pours into and disturbs their class.

“So, we picked this place to lend our support to because one, it is an IDP camp , two, because our foundation is focused mainly on children and this school here is for children from nursery to primary six.”

Winfunke said the nature of the school which was estaished by the community made it more imperative for the foundation to intervene and support the school.

“It is a very touching story and the government needs to come and set up schools, medical facilities and other amenities.

“It should also integrate these people back into the system to take them to their communities because as of now, it seems that they are just forgotten, ” he added.

Winfunke said the foundation also carry out other interventions in the area of fertility management where it helps to empower people facing infertility challenges.

He said they include fibroid and conception, among others, and equip the people with the requisite knowledge on how to come out of it.

Mr Mayowa Elebiyo ,Public Relations Manager,Teen County Africa, a partner of Olwin foundation, said that it was important to teach children on GBV.

According to him, it is critical to catch the kids young to save them from being victims and suffering its repercussion in the future.

He said: “We are community service experts and we took it upon ourselves to reach out to the IDP camp today.

“One of our objectives is to ensure that we build the capacity of these young ones about sexual abuse and other vices happening around them.

“So, one of the modules I took them was about sexual abuse, we reoriented them on how to know when they are being touched wrongly and who to report to.

“The children from ages five to seven were taught using fun ways to pass the information and they understood it.”

Mr Luka Ayedoo,Headmaster of Sharing Prosperity School and Secretary of the camp commended the NGO for the invaluable gesture .

He added: “We established the school ourselves to make sure our children have access to education and the teachers run the school on vulunterily, because there is no money to pay salaries since there is no much support .

“Before, some NGOs helped us but it was not enough, so, I am pleading with more organisations and individuals to support us so the children can be in school.

“We started with 85 pupils but now we have close to 300. These children would have been on the streets rooming about but now they are in school.”

Ayedoo called on the government to fight illiteracy by empowering more children to be in school, adding, “thereby prevent them being used as willing tools for social vices and terrorism.” (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Bashir Rabe Mani

A participant making a comment during a training of secondary school staff members from Kaduna North Senatorial District on School Related Gender-Based Violence Safeguarding in Zaria
Gender , General News

AGILE trains 30,000 academic, non-academic staff on curbing GBV

By Philip Yatai

The World Bank-supported Kaduna State Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) project is training 30,000 academic and non-academic staff of secondary schools on School Related Gender-Based Violence (SRGBV) Safeguarding.

The AGILE GBV Officer, Hajiya Aisha Mohammed stated this in Zaria on Tuesday, during the training of 1,663 secondary school staff members from Kaduna North Senatorial District on SRGBV safeguarding.

Mohammed identified the staff as principals of government secondary school, Grievance Redress Mechanism Officials and Guidance and Counselling Officers.

She said that 300 staff members within the Kaduna Central Senatorial Zone have been trained, adding that others within Kaduna South Senatorial Zone would also be trained until the 30,000 staff were covered.

This, according to her, is part of efforts by the AGILE project to ensure SRGBV prevention and mitigation such that all adolescent girls in the state would be able to attend secondary schools safely.

She explained that the training was critical following the significant infrastructural investments and upgrades being undertaken by the Kaduna AGILE project in 550 secondary schools, with an accompanying increase in the number of workers.

The GBV officer explained that AGILE’s objective is to improve secondary education opportunities among adolescent girls by addressing constraints that limit adolescent girls’ ability to complete secondary school.

Speaking on the state’s SRGBV Safeguarding Code of Conduct (CoC), Hajiya Zainab Maina-Lukat, the project’s Technical Assistant on System Strengthening, said that each of the 30,000 staff would sign the CoC.

Maina-Lukat reiterated that in all, the CoC has 15 commitments to which all staff and site workers would be expected to adhere to as part of effort to prevent SRGBV in schools.

She explained that the CoC was based on the Kaduna State’s Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law, Child Welfare and Protection Law, GBV prevention policies as well as the State’s and National Teachers’ Policies.

She disclosed that among the CoC’s commitments, staff and site workers were required to refrain from any form of sexual exploitation and abuse, inappropriate sexual behaviour or act(s) toward students or staff.

The technical assistant also said that the CoC also prohibits the use of sexually suggestive language and inappropriate physical contact with students, including beating of any student.

“The SRGBV training and CoC is an excellent example of a collective process and action of deepening safeguarding measures within education sector agencies.

“The agencies include the Teachers Service Board, State Universal Basic Education Board, and the Kaduna State Quality Assurance Authority.

“Other agencies include the Ministry of Human Services and Social Development, Ministry for Justice, and Ministry for Health as well as the Partnership for Education for All in Nigeria programme,” she said.

Mr Joseph Damola, one of the facilitators at the training, noted that access to justice plays an important role in the fight to end GBV in schools and communities.

“It is important to have a well-coordinated and integrated justice response system. This will enhance the conviction of perpetrators and contribute to safety and well-being of survivors,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the UN said GBV is the most pervasive yet least visible human rights violation in the world.

It includes physical, sexual, mental, or economic harm inflicted on a person because of socially ascribed power imbalances between males and females.

It also includes the threat of violence, coercion, and deprivation of liberty, whether in public or private. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Sadiya Hamza

Health

Legal prosecution, education, sensitisation vital to ending GBV — Isha Sesay

By Ikenna Osuoha
Ms Isha Sesay, a UN Population Fund (UNFPA) Goodwill Ambassador, has listed legal prosecution, education and sensitisation as vital instruments to ending the growing menace of Gender Based Violence (GBV) globally.

She made this known in a virtual engagement with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday, stressing that violence against women and girls was unacceptable.

The engagement was part of activities by the West and Central Africa Regional Office of the UNFPA to mark the 2021 International Women’s Day (IWD).

The day is annually marked on March 8 around the world to bring to the fore, issues that affect women and to celebrate women who were making giant strides in different areas of endeavour.

The global celebration has “CHOOSE TO CHALLENGE” as its theme for this year.
Sesay, a British journalist who worked as an anchor and correspondent for CNN International with interest in women and girls’ issues and an advocate for an equal world, said the political will of governments to implement laws that prohibit violence against women was also key to eradicating the menace.

She said “implementing laws to prosecute perpetrators of violence against women and girls is key.”

She condemned all forms of violence against women, blamed it on misconceptions that placed women as property, or men thinking that they have more rights over women.

The UNFPA ambassador called for education of women and girls to truly increase their potential to the advantage of the world.

She decried the statistics that about 40 per cent of women were forced into early marriage, thereby causing great loss of capital to the entire world.

According to her, educating a woman will go a long way in reducing maternal mortality rate around the globe.

Sesay emphasised the imperatives of sensitising religious and community leaders on the benefits of women’s education.

She said the involvement of the female gender in decision making in communities and in governance was also vital to ending violence against women, explaining that women were in better position to know and feel the pains of fellow women.

She, however, stressed that “there is a lot to do before equity or parity can be achieved.”

Sesay is a British journalist of Sierra Leonean descent who worked as an anchor and correspondent for CNN International, but left in 2018.

As UNFPA’s goodwill ambassador, she shared her personal life experiences, her journey as a journalist and her interest in women and girls’ issues, we well as efforts to achieve an equal world.

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