Mrs. Loveth Ugwuanyi, the Social Behaviour Change Consultant, Centre for Communication and Social Impact (CCSI) has urged federal and state governments to enforce existing laws to tackle the menace of Gender Based Violence (GBV).
She made the call in Abakaliki on Friday at the end of a three-day contextualization workshop on National Communication Strategy to End GBV against Women and Girls in Nigeria.
Ugwuanyi noted that such laws include: Child Rights Act and the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act.
The consultant said that the workshop was part of strategies toward ending GBV and Harmful Practices (HPs) in the society.
She explained that peer pressure, low level of women empowerment, substance abuse, among other harmful social norms, were
major drivers of GBV in the society.
She added that “this workshop is in line with plans to eliminate harmful practice of violence against women and girls.
“We looked at the critical areas of focus on GBV, namely: Female Genital Mutilation, child marriage and teenage pregnancy.
“We noted that enforcement of the laws and policies are key to ending GBV and other harmful practices against women and girls across states of the federation.”
Ugwuanyi also stressed the need for collaboration among the police, civil society organizations, traditional and religious leaders, as well as the media.
In his remarks, Mr. Victor Emeruwa, the Communication Specialist on GBV issues, UNFPA Spotlight Initiative, explained the importance of an integrated response from the media, government, international agencies among other relevant stakeholders to end the trend.
Emeruwa also stressed the need to enforce existing laws to tackle the menace.
Meanwhile, the Ebonyi Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Deborah Okah,
assured the state government’s commitment to checkmate GBV.
Okah commended global partners and the centre for driving the cause of communication strategy to end GBV.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Gov. David Umahi of Ebonyi had set up a task force to checkmate
violators of GBV laws and offenders in the state. (NAN)
