The Centre for 21st Century Issues (C21st) has teamed up with the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) to mark the 30th anniversary of the 2021 global campaign against Gender-Based Violence with the theme “Orange the World: End Violence Against Women Now.”
Thus, the global campaign against Gender-Based Violence is no exception. The organization expressed the need to increase public awareness to eradicate the frequent occurrence of Gender-Based Violence Against Women.
Reports have shown that Nigeria records high rates of violence against women and girls globally at about 30 percent. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimated that 3 in 10 Nigerian girls are victims of physical violence by the age of 15. Some of such gross violence include rape, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), child pregnancies, and forced child marriage. This has further worsened with the covid-19 pandemic.
The Centre for 21st Century Issues disclosed that although the government has duly responded through various legal and policy reforms, there is still a lot more to be done to stop Gender-Based Violence Against Women. One of such mentioned by the organization includes empowering agencies that handle issues concerning gender-based violence as well as law enforcement, social, and welfare services. The C21st also urged every state in Nigeria to domesticate the Violence Against Person’s Act (VAPP).
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The organization noted that putting an end to violence against women will require the country’s legal system to enforce the prosecution of those who are perpetrators of gender-based violence. Also, security agencies should be furnished with the requisite training on response and referral of incidences of gender-based violence.
