ABUJA (SundiataPost) – The Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) working in the area of security, justice sector and human rights have called on the Federal and State governments as well as the Nigerian Police Force to treat the increasing cases of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) as a security threat.
This call was made on Saturday in a chat with the Justice and Security Dialogue (JSD) Programme Coordinator, Ms. Isioma Kemakolam.
According to Kemakolam, why incidents of rape are on the “increase”, which she noted, has attracted national outcry, is because “sexual violence is yet to be considered as a security issue, and when it is, it does not rank high as a priority”.
She stressed that COVID-19 if nothing, highlighted this issue more, creating awareness on this plague called rape, and that “to really see change, we need to see shifts in how the government, police and others understand sexual violence as a security issue that impacts everyone and the society.
“This pandemic has brought to fore this issue and there are increased discussions around it as a ‘shadow pandemic’ during the COVID-19 pandemic, which now proves to be a catalyst for action,” she said.
Listed as reasons why people seem to tolerate or overlook sexual violence are; attitudes, lack of awareness on existing laws, family attachments (to the perpetrator), fear of public opinion/shame, insecurity, Social and economic dependency, stereotypes or myths, prejudice, fear of retribution, feeling of helplessness, religious and cultural beliefs amongst others.
To this end, JSD which is a Programme being implemented in Nigeria by WANEP in collaboration with CEPAN with support from USIP established a Gender Desk in Nasarawa Gwom police Division of Plateau State Command, which became handy to address the rising scourge of SGBV amidst COVID-19.
Urging the public to take advantage and utilize services of the Gender Desk, the program coordinator stated that the Desk is open to receive cases, improve response and victim’s experience with the police and hopefully, reduce the prevalence of SGBV. All services are free.
She said that partnering with CSOs, CBOs, Ministries of Health, women and social welfare to network and coordinate service providers with the Plateau Police Command, JSD trained 40 officers on effective response to SGBV.