By Bukola Afeni
Stakeholders on gender have urged Nigerian journalists to adhere to ethics and professionalism when reporting issues around gender-based violence. This according to them will help in reducing stigma on survivors of the cases.
“We want to partner with the media to ensure that reporting is done in an ethical way, by galvanizing efforts to ensure that we have strategy partnership, to mitigate and respond to risks against sexual and gender-based violence by women and girls in Nigeria,” Chief of Child Protection Section UNICEF Nigeria, Ibrahim Sesay, said in Abuja, at a media training on ethical reporting, media advocacy and solutions Journalism, for members of the Spotlight Initiative Network of Journalists
Stressing the need to employ professionalism, Mr. Sesay said, “We need to look at strategic ways of telling stories of those who survive, by looking at their issues critically. Sometimes we need to protect their images, and not add to what they are passing through.
“The privacy of those who survive must be protected at all times, we should show empathy and not victimize them”.
Describing media as very powerful tool in disseminating information, he stressed the need for journalists to uncover salient issues, “in the past, we focused too much on girls and women, boys and men also pass through violence. Statistics show that 1 in 4 girls experience sexual violence, about 19% of girls marry before age 15. 1 in 5 girls have experienced emotional violence. We should work towards reducing the number of people that experience Gender based violence”.
Also speaking, Child Protection Officer UNICEF, Tochi Odele, said, the political structure of Nigeria has limited the implementation of legal and political framework of those working in the aspect of Gender Based Violence.
In her words, “the country is facing challenges in the area of implementation of laws. The lack of political will to implement the laws have limited the capacity of service providers.
“The road to justice is usually windy and expensive, stakeholders and partners have to put in extra work to support those who survive”.
She added that research carried out highlights that majority of children surveyed experience violence in the home, “violence usually happens in a trusted environment; the perpetrators are close in most cases. Women and girls with disabilities are twice as likely to experience violence of any form. There are instances where children who reported Gender based violence are those that were sent into early marriages. Some children who are orphans do not like reporting to adults as well.”
In a remark, Director, National Orientation Agency, FCT, Tanko Mary, said stigma has prevented survivors to speak publicly, urging Journalist to contribute their quota in reducing instances of Gender based violence in the country.
“Journalists need to be professional while writing their reports. Those who survive Gender based violence should not be stigmatized by the media. If we encourage them to speak up, they should be shielded from negative narrative,” she said.
