ByRemi Koleoso

Wife of the Ekiti Governor, Mrs Bisi Fayemi, has decried the various forms of violence and dimensions against women in Nigeria politics, saying it called for concern.

Fayemi spoke during a live Radio programme on Thursday, organised by the Stop Violence Against Women in Politics (Stop-VAWIP) and Balm in Gilead Foundation for Sustainable Development (BIGIF) monitored in Ado-Ekiti.

BIGIF is an NGO, committed to empowering women, youths and children to ensure equal access to sustainable livelihood through the provision of care and support services, education, referral, resource mobilisation, human rights promotion, social inclusion, youths development and women empowerment.

The governors wife promised to enhance womens active participation in politics and the electoral processes by mitigating effect of violence against women in politics in all its forms in the state.

According to her, some of them are, but not limited to physical, economic, emotional, sexual, and other forms of violence.

She said that the violence negatively impacted womens health and the general wellbeing, adding it also has negative effects on the countrys political and socioeconomic development.

The objectives of Stop-VAWIP campaign are to raise awareness about the harmful effects of violence against women in politics and engage relevant stakeholders to mitigate it.

It is also to encourage women to actively participate in the electoral processes and to track and respond to cases of violence against women in politics during election period, she said.

Fayemi, at the Town Hall meeting, took the listeners down the memory lane, sharing how the GBV response programmes and law started in Ekiti and grew to the point where it was institutionalised.

She said the VAPP/GBV Prohibition Law is now established as a comprehensive legal framework that protects women and promotes a culture where women could live freely and safely.

As of June, 32 states in Nigeria have domesticated the VAPP Law, mainly because of the marching order given by the Governors Forum.

It became a matter of concern because one out of three women is faced with or have suffered from GBV. This is to promote a culture whereby women can live their lives in dignity.

Some of the lessons we learnt and applied along the way were the linkages between Education and GBV prevention.

Consequently, we developed a GBV Policy for educational institutions and also embarked on community engagement working with the traditional and religious institutions.

We saw the need to establish an effective GBV Management Committee, as MDAs and development partner contributed to the process of mitigating GBV in Ekiti.

It is evident that one cannot address GBV without paying attention to the economic state of women, because poverty fuels women and childrens vulnerability leading to poor life choices and outcomes, she further explained.

The Town Hall meeting also provided the opportunity for participants to make recommendations for strategic actions in implementing the VAPP/GBV Prohibition Law in Ekiti State.

The Town Hall also hosted Dr Olayemi Oyebanji, the incoming Governors wife, who shared her intentions to continue to give women agenda priority attention after the tenure of Gov. Kayode Fayemi administrations in the state.

Oyebanji gave her commitment to continue to advocate the implementation of the Ekiti Women Policy Agenda, 2022, GBV Prevention Strategic Plan, Political Office (Genderp Composition) Bill, 2022 when signed into law and other programmes and plans, as she is passionate about the issues.

To make Ekiti a model state for implementing a GBV law, both women advocate for funding of different Ministry Department and Agencies (MDAs), training more gender specialists and social workers, to decentralize the access to GBV services in the state.

She assured the people that the incoming administration would include gender updates as part of the state Executive Council briefing.

This is to ensure that GBV and other related issues are addressed at the highest level of the state.

BIGIF, through the programme, got an instant justice for a 16-year-old teenage pregnancy survivor, who is kept in her abuser house in Ado-Ekiti, as wife of the governor gave a marching order to the concerned ministry to get the girl supported and bring her abuser to book within 24 hours.

The convener of the Stop Violence Against Women in Politics (Stop-VAWIP), commended the efforts of the Fayemis wife toward ensuring the eradication of GBV in the state. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Olagoke Olatoye

Source: NAN News