By Justina Auta
An NGO, Hope For the Village Child Foundation (HVCF) has advocated increased awareness on Gender Based Violence (GBV) and speedy judicial process to end child sexual abuse and other violence.
Ms Grace Sim-Auta, Gender Unit Coordinator, HVCF, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja.
She attributed the increasing cases of violence, maltreatment and abuse on children to poor awareness and implementation of laws and policies, as well as slow prosecution processes.
Sim-Auta stressed the need for full implementation of laws and speedy prosecution of GBV cases to serve as deterrent to others, saying that such intervention will also ensure survivors gets justice.
” Yes there are relevant laws and policies to address GBV, the issue has always been that of implementation.
” Prosecution of accused persons sometimes proves to be a herculean task with delays in court proceedings, as well as other bureaucratic bottlenecks, which sometimes makes the survivors or victims and their family to give up.
“Another issue is lack of cooperation from the survivors or victims and their family, who would prefer to disappear into obscurity for fear of negative publicity or being judged, witch hunted or victimised.
“And because the perpetrators are not held accountable and justice isn’t done, they get away with the crime, which further increases the chances of such crimes recurring,” she said.
According to her, educating children, irrespective of their gender should start at a younger age to protect them from abuse, as well as encourage them to speak out and report to appropriate persons and authorities.
“What can be done to address this menace is to ensure full implementation of the laws, cases of GBV be fast tracked and justice speedily dispensed, and one way of doing this is by establishing special courts for this.
“States that have not passed Laws criminalising some of these GBV be prevailed upon to not just pass them but ensure full implementation.
“Another way of addressing is by way of education and enlightenment on GBV.
“We need to draw attention to these crimes and try to get all hands on deck, as there’s no excuse for them and to fight this pandemic we have to unite and collectively address it,” she said.
Recently, UNODC and UN Women report, “Femicides in 2023,” revealed disturbing trend of intentional killings worldwide.
The report estimated that approximately 85,000 women and girls were intentionally killed globally in 2023.
This underscores the need for immediate action to prevent such violence and protect women and girls.
A staggering 60 per cent of these deaths – 51,000 – were perpetrated by intimate partners or family members.
In spite of the existence of legal frameworks like the Child Rights Act (CRA) and the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act, coupled with public awareness campaigns and investments, GBV cases still persists.
Also, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, Minister of Women Affairs, at a joint UN Accountability Forum, cited a 2021 National Bureau of Statistics report, which revealed alarming statistics.
She quoted the report as stating that 30 per cent of women aged 15-49 have experienced physical violence, and one in four girls has suffered sexual abuse before age 18. (NAN
