Delta Wages War Against Gender-Based Violence

Flags off 16 days activism

BY PATRICK MGBODO

Delta State Government yesterday vowed to intensify the crusade against all forms of gender-based violence in the state through the empowerment of the girl-child, among other approaches.

The Commissioner for Humanitarian and Community Support Services, Barr Bridget Anyafulu disclosed this at a Press Conference to commemorate 2021 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.

The Humanitarian Commissioner reeled out some of the strategies of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to combat gender-based violence through the expansion of access and opportunities for women and girls in education and healthcare for their economic and political development.
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Among other skills acquisition programmes for youths in the state, Anyafulu singled out the Girls Entrepreneurship and Skills Training Programme (GEST) designed for the economic empowerment of women and girls, among others such as the Skill Training and Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP).

She identified the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act and the Child Rights Act as some of the legal instruments domesticated in the state to guarantee the protection of women and girls against violence.

While commanding Governor Okowa for broadening the political space for women in the state, she called on civil societies and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to support the efforts of the state government in combating all forms of violence, especially gender-based.

“The Lord preached love, tolerance, inclusivity and unity. He admonished us to love one another as proof of our faith and discipleship. Can the followers of the Lord justifiably condone exclusion, discrimination and marginalization of women and girls… The answer is obvious. We cannot, as Christians, accept the violence against women and girls” she said.

At the ceremony members of the civil society, including Dr. Andrew Agboro, Pastor Edewor Egedegbe and Deacon Okezie Odugala, noted that there has been a significant upsurge of Gender-Based Violence against women across the country due to insecurity and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As we join the rest of the world in commemorating the 2021 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, it is only appropriate that we should step back and ponder on how to address the growing problem.

“In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rising tidsocioeconomiconomic and political tension across the country, it has become more necessary to prioritize the problem and direct greater energy and attention towards ending it now.

“Gender-based violence is a by-product of our patriarchal society and it’s concomitant norms which apportion more power and importance to the males over their female counterparts. This system has, over the years, nurtured the anachronistic belief that women are inferior to men” they noted.