Abuja (Nigeria), Nov.26, GNA – Dr. Natalia Kanem, the UN-Under Secretary General and UNFPA’s Executive Director, has called on international organisations and governments to prioritise sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).
“SGBV is everybody’s business, it knows no boundaries and it can happen to anybody, so let’s show concern and develop interests and join forces to fight it.”
She made the call on Thursday when she joined the European Union, the UN and Nigeria to commemorate this year’s “16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence” in Abuja.
The commemoration is on the theme: “Orange the World: End Violence against Women Now!”
Dr. Kanem bemoaned the surge in SGBV cases in the country, especially in the wake of COVID-19 coupled with its lockdowns that made women and girls more vulnerable to the unjust act.
She condemned it in all circumstances and called for a collective approach to complement UNFPA’s initiatives to appreciably reduce the canker globally.
“All forms of SGBV are wrong and must be put to a stop. I affirm that child marriage is a type of violence, I affirm that female genital mutilation is wrong and must be stopped,” she added.
Mr Edward Kallon, the UN Resident Coordinator, Nigeria, said shame, fear of perpetrators and the justice system deterred victims from reporting their encounters to appropriate authorities.
SGBV, he said, became a pandemic within the COVID-19 pandemic globally and limited the capabilities of girls and women to fight to reach their potentials.
Women and girls were marginalised groups in Nigeria who went through inhuman attacks like rape and intimate partner gender violence, he noted.
Mr Kallon implored countries globally, to develop legal and accountable frameworks and prepare budgets to address SGBV issues and as well build the capacity of law enforcement agencies to task.
Madam Samuela Isopi, the EU Head of Delegation to Nigeria, described violence against women and girls as a perverse human rights violation, which was largely unreported due to fear and stigma.
She said one in three females from 15 years, globally, had experienced a form of SGBV, while one in 20 women had been raped.
The 16 days of activism, she said was, therefore, a key moment of the year to make SGBV a thing of the past.
Madam Isopi said the EU was focusing on fighting impunity in Nigeria and was helping the Nigerian government to set up a sexual assault centre to discourage the act and support victims.
Mrs Comfort Lamptey, the UN-Women Country Representative, said 28 per cent of women between 15 and 49 years had experienced abuse, and that the numbers increased whenever there was a crisis.
“In Nigeria during the first lockdown, there was a fivefold increase in incidences of gender-based violence and one in three women felt unsafe when home alone during the pandemic,” she said.
She said sexual harassments had scaled up in Nigeria and Kenya according to the UN-Women report, adding that it had become a wake-up call for concerted efforts to eliminate harmful practices against women and girls.
Mrs Lamptey entreated nations to make women the centre of responses, including policy formulation, and drawing evidence-based measures to reverse the act.
GNA