Gombe (Nigeria) — Violence against children is a pervasive problem, very close to home, in Nigeria, with six out of every ten children in the country suffering one or more forms of physical, sexual or emotional violence before they reach 18 years. More than 70 per cent experience this violence repeatedly.
One out of two suffer physical violence, such as punching, kicking, whipping, burning, choking, trying to drown, threatening or hitting with a weapon; one in four girls and one in ten boys have experienced sexual violence; one in five boys and one in six girls suffer emotional violence.
Mostly, the perpetrators are someone the child knows and the violence often takes place where the child should be safe in their homes, in a neighbour’s home, at school, and coming to and from school. The vast majority of children never speak out, silenced by fear, shame, stigma and a lack of knowledge of where to seek help.
Statistics show fewer than five per cent of children who are victims of violence ever get the help that they need to recover.
These findings, from the National Survey on Violence Against Children, published by the National Population Commission, the US Centers for Disease Control and UNICEF, were a catalyst for action.
On 15 September 2015, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, committed to ending violence against children, launching a Year of Action, calling on not only the Government, but also NGOs, religious leaders and groups, the media and every Nigerian to take action to ensure no child has to grow up in the shadow of violence.
National Priority Actions were also launched, setting out key steps that were needed to more effectively prevent and respond to all forms of violence against children.
The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has observed an increase in violence against children in Nigeria, and attributed rising youth restiveness in the country to the phenomenon.
UNICEF Child Protection Specialist, Ladi Alabi, made the disclosure last month in Gombe, at a media dialogue with Journalists in Gombe, as part of activities leading up to the launch of the campaign to end violence against children by the State Government.
She said a survey by the global organization indicated that the rights of a lot of children were being violated in the country, calling for “child justice administration” to protect the rights of minors and the future of Nigeria.
Mrs Alabi lamented that, in particular, cases of rape of children were on the increase. She however counselled journalists at the workshop on ethical reporting of children-related issues.
The UNICEF Child Protection Specialist however noted that Nigeria was taking the right steps in addressing the challenge by being the first country in West Africa and eighth in the world to adopt the UNICEF’s policy for combating the scourge.
“Nigeria is the eight country in the world to conduct this survey, a household survey that covered all the states in the country. Nigeria is the first country in West Africa to conduct the survey and that puts Nigeria on the frontline of countries who have a commitment to protect their children,” she said.
Also speaking, UNICEF’s Communication Specialists from the Bauchi field office, Samuel Kaalu, said United Nations General Assembly had mandated UNICEF to advocate for the protection of children’s rights, with the aimed of meeting their basic needs and expanding their opportunities to reach their full potential.
He said that UNICEF was striving to establish children’s rights as enduring ethical principles and international standards of behaviour towards children protection and their basic needs.
Mr. Kaalu further appealed to the Media to send the messages of end violence against children across the country to the desired audiences, adding that Media have inherent mass communication capacities through which they can reach hundreds of millions of people in a targeted audience in a short time.
“For us in development, partnering with the media is important because we aim for visibility, advocacy and behaviour change communication, Broadcast media reaches a wide audience and all sections of society – rural/urban, poor/rich, educated/illiterate and Media are powerful: they can set the agenda; they can pressure Governments and international community”, he said during the ceremony and official unveiling of the Gombe State Priority Action
