The First Lady, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, has signed an agreement with governors\u2019 wives to combat Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and harmful social practices against women.
\nThe agreement was signed in Abuja, yesterday, at the first Gender and Social Norms Summit 2024, organised by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Renewed Hope initiative, in collaboration with the Office of the First Lady.
\nIn her keynote address, the first lady said that the prevalence of harmful practices such as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), assault on women, and Child Marriage, which in some cases lead to Vesicovaginal Fistula (VVF) remain unacceptably high.
\nAccording to her, incidences of such practices have continued to increase in spite of various efforts.
\nShe also said that recently, the spate of rape cases and GBV had reached an alarming rate, not sparing babies too.
\n\u201cDo we allow this trend to continue, or do we look the other way?.
\n\u201cThat is why I am calling on law enforcement agencies, the Inspector-General of Police, the Attorney-General of the Federation and the National Assembly (NASS) to appropriate and enforce stiffer laws and punishments for perpetrators of rape, sexual violence and other forms of GBV.
\n\u201cNo guilty party should be allowed to go free and start roaming the streets looking for the next victim.\u201d
\nTinubu, however, said that collective action was needed to put an end to the practices.
\nShe advocated the development of state-specific action plans to promote the allocation of adequate resources in government budgets to support gender equality initiatives and GBV prevention programmes.
\nShe added that \u201cthis summit provides us with common platform to create awareness, exchange lessons learned and promote effective strategies toward preventing and responding to GBV and harmful practices.\u201d
\nThe UNFPA Officer-In-Charge, Mr Koessan Kuawu, said family planning is not only a crucial health intervention but a cornerstone
\nof gender equality and women empowerment.
\nHe, however, noted that social norms drive misconceptions and cultural barriers in many communities across the country, hindering the uptake of family planning.
\nAccording to him, Nigeria occupies a unique position globally in the pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030 due to its vast population.
\nHe commended the Federal Government \u201cfor its steadfast dedication to creating an enabling environment through the passage and enforcement
\nof critical legislations such as the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act 2015.
\n\u201cThe implementation of the National FGM Policy, the National Child Marriage Policy, and state-specific action plans are also highly commendable to eliminating the menace.
\n\u201cThese milestones have been achieved through persistent advocacy, aimed at strengthening the adoption and implementation of these laws.\u201d
\nHe explained that though eliminating GBV and harmful social practices is an immense task, it is not insurmountable.
\n\u201cWith the right resources, political will and community support across the states, we can change the narrative for women and girls in Nigeria,\u201d Kuawu said.
\nOn her part, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Uju Ohanneye, advocated stricter penalties for perpetrators.
\nShe explained that \u201coverseas, where people are afraid to commit crimes or social norms or things that can harm another, it\u2019s because when
\nyou do it, you face the consequences, legally and otherwise.
\nShe reiterated the commitment of the ministry to support and implement programmes toward eliminating GBV.
\nThe Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), defined social norms as unspoken rules or expected behaviours that
\nset social standards of appropriate and inappropriate manners in a specific culture or social group.
\nFagbemi, who was represented by the Solicitor-General of the Federation, Mrs Beatrice Agba, said \u201cGBV encompasses various forms of violence
\ndirected at individuals based on their gender, often rooted in unequal power dynamics and societal norms.\u201d
\nHe, however, noted that the practices \u201cmay unfortunately be attributed to the patriarchal and male dominance theoretical framework in place in our society.\u201d
\nHe said that the Federal Ministry of Justice is fully aware of the crucial roles that the justice system plays in addressing gender and social norms
\nthrough the provision of a framework for accountability, protection and empowerment.
\nHe added that by upholding the rule of law, promoting gender equality and advancing justice for all, the justice system could contribute significantly
\nto creating a more inclusive, equitable and just society for the present and future generations.
\nAlso, that in addition to ongoing legislative reforms, the ministry was working with critical stakeholders to engage community actors such as traditional rulers,
\nfaith-based organisations, and informal community justice systems to address the notions and institutions that perpetrate violence against women and girls.
\n\u201cWe are initiating a pilot phase with the Area Councils in collaboration with area council chairmen to support ongoing dialogue and initiatives on this subject,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The First Lady, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, has signed an agreement with governors\u2019 wives to combat Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and harmful social practices against women. The agreement was signed in Abuja, yesterday, at the first Gender and Social Norms Summit 2024, organised by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Renewed Hope initiative, in collaboration with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":320613,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[688],"class_list":["post-338076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-front-pix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=338076"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":338087,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338076\/revisions\/338087"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/320613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=338076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=338076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=338076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}