Community leaders in Sokoto State have brainstormed on ways to tackle sexual and gender based violence across the State. One of them, Alhaji Sani Umar-Jabbi, the District Head of Gagi in Sokoto South Local Government Area, has stated that one way to tackle the menace is for school principals, and guidance and counselling officers to intensify vigilance on relationships among students.
Umar-Jabbi made the call at a training on mitigating the challenges of Gender Based Violence (GBV) in Sokoto. The training was organised by Community Dialogue Committee (CDC), an NGO, supported by Global Rights and Kukah Center. The district head expressed dismayed over the attitude of some parents who remained nonchalant “when their wards are abused or sexually molested.”
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He assured the traditional rulers’ support in exposing GBV perpetrators and urged residents to always expose perpetrators towards sanctioning them accordingly.
”We will continue to voice out our concern until perpetrators of GBV and their associates in our communities change their attitude,” he said. In his presentation, Prof. Mustapha Namakka, underscored the importance of awareness, interactive engagements in understanding GBV among the people and approaches to tackle the menace. Namakka urged school administrators in the state to redouble efforts in supervision of teacher-students relationships in their respective schools.
The don said efforts should be made to ensure that perpetrators of GBV and related offences were punished by stipulated authorities to serve as deterrent to others. He called on government to come up with referral pathways and other support services connecting students with appropriate platforms on GBV issues.
The Chairman, Sokoto State GBV Response Team, Malam Rabi’u Gandi, advised counselling officers and school principals to encourage GBV survivors when seeking information through mentioning names of potential suspects.
”GBV is a serious violation of human rights and a life-threatening health and protection issue.
”Children and youths often face greater risk of physical, sexual and psychological violence, such as rape, sexual abuse, trafficking and forced prostitution when they left thier homes.
”It is estimated that one out of every three women experienced sexual or physical violence in their lifetime. GBV is preventable and our response team is committed to promoting gender equality and protection,” he assured.
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He observed that the consequences of GBV include; long term repercussions for survivors and sometimes death. He said: “Government and communities need to address GBV through implementing quality programmes toward prevention, mitigation and responses.
“Our primary purpose is to safeguard the rights of victims and support states to uphold their responsibility to ensure that people of concern are protected against GBV,” Gandi added.
In her contribution, CDC Secretary, Ms Sadiya Bello, who spoke on women inclusion for sustainable development and resilience called on husbands and community leaders to facilitate the economic empowerment of women. The Explainer reports that the event featured interactive session as well as questions and answers on GBV.
