 |
| Hajiya Zainab Maina |
Hajiya Zainab Maina, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, has called on relevant law enforcement agencies to ensure that reported perpetrators of violence against women are brought to book .
Maina made the call on Tuesday in Abuja while briefing newsmen to commemorate the 2014 International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
Extreme cases of Gender Based Violence (GBV) are reported in newspapers and many courageous survivors also report to NGOs and the police but many are also not reported.
There has been increasing documentation of GBV which necessitated the clamour to adopt a rights based approach through enactment of legislation and legal reforms on GBV, family and criminal law," she said.
Maina noted that cases of rape were rampant in the country, adding that the ministry was overwhelmed with series of such cases requiring urgent legal attention.
She said patriarchal norms, beliefs and practices continue to shape socialisation such that boys and men see women and girls as persons of less power and tools for satisfying their sexual desires.
She explained that gender based violence remains one of the most important indicators for assessing progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
There is a long standing failure to protect women from gender based violence; there is need to address economic, social and cultural issues particularly gender inequalities.
The frequency at which rape and abduction are being perpetrated has in most times become a cause for alarm.
In all these cases, women and girls are always the helpless victims.
It must be noted that gender based violence, most especially violence against women is now a subject matter of Human Rights and Liberties," Maina said.
The minister said that GBV was one of the key social drivers of HIV/AIDS epidemic in Nigeria. (NAN)
- http://aitonline.tv/post-perpetrators_of_violence_against_women_should_be_prosecuted___maina#sthash.hCtMYZoY.dpuf
No comments:
Post a Comment