Worried by the prevalent cases of gender-based violence against women and girls, the Honorable Minister of Women Affairs, Barr Uju Kennedy Ohanenye, has advocated for fair treatment of women and girls while reiterating the urgent need for appropriate measures and policies to be put in place to address this unfriendly practice which does not only pose as barrier to social cohesion but also depletes the dignity of women.
The Honourable Minister made this statement in Abuja during the annual High Level Gender Based Violence Summit of Traditional and Religious Leaders in Nigeria and West Africa under the auspices of the UN Women and Ford Foundation to push to the front burner, lingering issues bordering on gender based violence within the West African Sub-region.
According to her “we cannot easily appreciate the magnitude of challenges our women and girls are confronted with due to some harmful gender norms which are not only used to fuel and widen the gap of gender inequality but also depletes the dignity of women and the girl child”.
She also reiterated some of the measures put in place by the Ministry under her watch to address gender based violence, “through sustained engagement and advocacy by the Ministry, Mobile Courts have been established in Osun and Anambra including the FCT and other states will soon commence the operation of Mobile Courts for quick dispensation of justice on matters relating to sexual and gender based violence against Nigerian women and girls in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs”.
“On a daily basis, I receive cases of physical attacks and humiliation of women by their husbands and we strongly believe that we cannot address it alone. With the royal fathers and religious leaders, we are optimistic that gender based violence and other harmful norms will soon be stamped out from our society.”
The Minister also stated that 15 states have benefited from sustainable empowerment items such as Rice milling machines, Cassava and Garri processing machines and other items to cushion the economic challenges faced by most families while other states will benefit in the next phase. She added that in fulfillment of its pledge, the Ministry has concluded plans to empower the 100 female orphans who were slated for the proposed mass wedding in Niger State.
“We are sinking boreholes, distributing bags of Rice, Wrappers, POS machines and other items to provide a new lease of life for the girls and other members of the community.”
In his presentation, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alh Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, commended the Minister for her resilience and passionate strides towards scaling up the socio-economic status of Nigerian women through sustainable empowerment initiatives and added that gender based violence is one of the greatest ills against humanity and requires collectives efforts to be eradicated from our society.
The Sultan also harped on the proposed mass wedding of 100 female orphans in Niger State and urged for dialogue and engagement on matters of public interest to avoid misconceptions “dialogue is the right approach as it will shape our minds in the right direction and also build understanding among the parties involved especially on issues of public interest”.
Other speakers at the event included the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, President, Christian Association of Nigeria, Most Rev. Daniel Oko, UN Women Country Representative, Beatrice Eyong, traditional and religious leaders from Niger Republic, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia , Civil Society Organizations and other relevant stakeholders.