STAKEHOLDERS WARN OVER GENDER VIOLENCE

STAKEHOLDERS WARN OVER GENDER VIOLENCE

BY ABDULMUMINI ADEKU.
 

Stakeholders from various block within the Nigerian society have thrown their full weight behind the calls for a halt in gender based violence.

At a three days workshop held at the Cheers Hotel in Lagos,Nigeria, recently all the participants at the event were of the opinion that a lot will be needed to halt the evil of gender violence.

The organizers of the event, the Journalist Against AIDS noted in  a statement that one in every four men surveyed had raped a woman or girl once in their life time while they were still in their teenage years.

The body explained that the survey which was carried out in six countries of the world showed that most of the men surveyed had grown up under an unhappy set up and believed they could be involved in gender based violence if they so desire without anybody fusing at all.

J.A.I.I.D.S submitted that this aforementioned proved beyond any form of doubt the general believe that the men by nature are tough.

The body pointed out that unlike in the past the media which is regarded as a very powerful tool and is used for advocacy is beginning to take a serious look at the issue of gender based violence as it was getting some level of reportage  unlike in the past when a lot of people kept quiet.

The body insisted that it was key for the media to continue to train its workers and expose them to as many capacity building efforts as possible as this will boost reportage in various ways.

The body however tapped the local press to wake up to its responsibilities as they found it difficult to believe that whenever a report was done there really was no follow up to the initial report.

In her own submission, The Executive Director of Media Concern,Mrs Princess Olufemi Kayode advised parents to be careful with the kind of things they expose their children to as  some of them are exposed to violence without their Guardian being aware of it r the full implication .

She noted that in the past the world was save as there was little or no social vice as at ten but quickly added that things have changed   and recalled that during her time at JAIIDS she worked with different the different segments of the press and from experience knew that not all of the people she worked with had the final authority on editorial issues.

She pointed out that there were lots of ethical issues to be taken note of if the issue was children’s reportage as they usually were naïve and sometimes very sensitive to situations.

She added that the public reactions that they have gotten at Media Concerns since they started operations shows the level they had gone at creating public awareness for what they do.

She warned the media not to treat their jobs with kiddies gloves as it was key that there works affect the society positively and not add to the sorrows of those already grieving after been abused.

In her own submissions,Barrister Josephine Odikpo ,Principal Partner ,Odikpo,Okpe and Associate  was also in agreement totally on the fact that gender based violence breeds no one any good but trouble.

Mrs  Juliet Olumuyiwa –Rufai ,Centre Manager,Mirabel Centre and Partnership  For Justice  explained that each time she comes across families ,she had since discovered that there may be conceptions and misconceptions over people’s actions.

She took her time in describing the issue of trauma to the participant at the three days workshop

A media presentations of a miracle of reconstructive surgery was showed to the audience at the event with the story of Carolyn Thomas ,Jacqui Sobrano touching the soul  due to the level of damage done to their faces when they were attacked by somebody they trusted and during an accident respectively.

In a related issue at the event,.Mrs Bola Akingbade,Director of Public Affairs ,Lagos State government said that the vision of the state regarding the agency that started only two years ago was to eradicate the stigma associated with gender based violence so that there will be public confidence in the legal system  so that in the end the evil will be reduced to the barest minimum even if it cannot be totally eliminated.

Miss Diana Joseph of the Equal Rights, Health and Access Advocacy  recalled the challenges she went through in her neighborhood before she could abandon drugs and paid tributes to her mother for the roles she played.

She told the gathering of how one of her female friends wanted to push her into the thing again but because she disagreed it became a heated matter so much so that they had to go to the police after the male friend assaulted her .

She went down  memory lane and told all that she started to do drugs while she was in college .

In a related issue,Mrs Monishola Elizabeth Ajiboye of the International Community of Women living with H.I.V. in West Africa told the gathering  that gender based violence affects  H.I.V patients emotionally and otherwise .

She recalled that in 2004 she started her treatment with anti-retroviral drugs  and when a bossom  pal got wind of it ,the friend left her  but surprisingly her own friend eventually got it and this made her to get in to trouble with her spouse who was always beating her up all the time with people around tehm not knowing why this was so.

In his own submissions,Mr Lekan Otufodurin,the Online Editor and Editor of The Nation week end title reinforced the need for training of the media at all level due to the changing trends globally.