Adebayo Adenrele
As part of the struggles to eliminate Gender Based Violence in Ekiti State, the Ekiti State government has vowed to bring perpetrators of gender-based violence against girls and women to book.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development in the state, Sola Adeluyi, represented by the Director Women Affairs in the Ministry, Tayo Olatilu, stated this at a program organised in Ado Ekiti by a non Governmental Organization, the Women Advocates’ Research and Documentation Centre, WARDC.
The Program is in collaboration with the Ekiti State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development and Gender Relevance Initiative Promotion with support from Ford Foundation, where the participants were educated on the need to speak up and report any violence against them to appropriate authorities.
In her words, “Ekiti State government will not relent on its decision to punish and shame perpetrators of gender-based violence against girls and women.”
In a remark, the Founding Director, WARDC, Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, stated that there is need for women to resist all violence against them and the girl child.
“The goal of this project is to reduce the occurence of violence against women and girls in southwest Nigeria and enhance engagement, capacity and accountability of community leaders and gatekeepers to promote women’s agency.”
“We called the Iyalode and Iyaloja in Ekiti State to discuss the burning issues of sexual and gender-based violence and how the association/council can address this vices in our communities.”
Also, the Executive Director of Gender Relevance Initiative Promotion, Rita Ilevbare, noted that the women leaders are expected to extend the campaign to their members against gender-based violence.
“To understand what is gender based violence and laws that prohibits it. We want to breach the gap between ignorance and knowledge of the law for effective promotion of gender justice in Ekiti State.”
