NEWS DIGEST– The Federal Ministry of Women’s Affairs in Nigeria has announced plans to engage whistleblowers and mobile courts in its fight against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in the country. The ministry is also committed to enforcing the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act.
Speaking to journalists at a press briefing on September 25, the Minister of Women’s Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, said that the two measures form part of the ministry’s new strategy to address GBV issues in Nigeria.
Kennedy-Ohanenye confirmed that mobile courts will be set up across all states in Nigeria, ensuring that advocacy is replaced by direct action in the fight against GBV. “We don’t want advocacy anymore before mobile courts because we’ve been advocating, spending money, and it’s yielding nothing”, she explained.
The move towards mobile courts comes after a new approach was deemed necessary by the ministry, due to an increase in female genital mutilation cases.
Kennedy-Ohanenye further explained that over two billion Naira (approx. $5.5 million USD) had been spent on the issue, yet the rate of occurrence is still higher.
The mobile courts will be supported by advocacy programmes which will help disseminate information about GBV in local languages in rural areas. Town criers will be employed to reach rural communities, where awareness of GBV and its consequences was low.
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Speaking at the conference, Olujimi Oyetomi, Director of Press and Public Relations at the ministry, discussed the need for sustainable projects to replace existing initiatives that proved inefficient. Sanitary pads were among them, which the ministry plans to replace with domestic production ventures. Similarly, gas cylinders distributed to rural women will be phased out in favor of charcoal burners and biogas.
The Ministry of Women’s Affairs also proposed that women in Nigeria form local cooperative groups which will support access to production machines and help generate income. The initiative is supported by the ministry as it helps empower women, contributes to the country’s economic growth and has the potential to reduce GBV in Nigeria.
Kennedy-Ohanenye also confirmed that the ministry would also investigate cases of breast ironing in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). A report released by The ICIR highlighted how young girls in the FCT are made to suffer breast ironing as a form of torture, aimed at making them appear unattractive and thus less vulnerable to sexual violence.
The minister stated that GBV, whether directed at men or women, could no longer be ignored. The introduction of mobile courts and engagement with private whistleblowers were important steps that formed part of a new era in Nigeria’s battle against GBV.
