A non-governmental organisation, Boabab for Women’s Human Rights has called on the federal government of Nigeria to put necessary mechanisms in place to strengthen women’s access to justice and personal security as a way of ending all forms of violence against women and girls.

The group also appealed to the federal government to facilitate the full and immediate adoption of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act of 2015 into law by the governments of states that are yet to do so.

Baobab Executive Director Ms Bunmi Salami made the call at an interactive session with journalists in Abuja on Friday.

The session was organized in commemoration of the International Human Rights Day and the 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence (GBV), with the theme “Orange the World:End violence against women now”

She also disclosed that the organization had secured a three-year grant from the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) to work with the media, male champions and young women to strengthen the fight against GBV and raise a community of advocates to reduce GBV to its barest minimum in Nigeria.

Among other appeals, Salami further pushed for creation of livelihood opportunities for survivors of GBV as an integral part of the response mechanism against the menace.

She noted that the 2021 GBV campaign focuses on the link between domestic violence and the world of work because domestic violence disproportionately impacts women and has remarkably increased since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also speaking, Chinyere Adegbulugbe, BAOBAB’ s FCT Outreach Coordinator lamented the huge socio-economic impact of domestic violence on the society and country at large.

According to her, “Aside from being a human rights violation, domestic violence has significant social and

economic repercussions, not just for the survivor, but also for communities and

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the country at large.

She said, “Poor emotional and mental health will likely lead to lower productivity among working women and higher dropout rates among school girls. Additionally, the economic decline as a result of the pandemic, which has left many women who are reliant on daily wages in dire economic circurnstances, increases womens and girls vulnerability to negative coping mechanisms and hamful practices such as transactional sex and child marriage”

According to her, policy responses to GBV must ensure the ability of the justice system

and law enforcement to act as mechanisms of accountability, leverage

opportunities to create a more transparent justice system, and use

technological innovations to protect the rights of women and girls.

“We also advocate for the full and immediate adoption of the violence

Against Persons (Prohibition) Act of 2015 into law by the governments of the following states: Lagos, Kano, Katsina, Borno, Gombe, Yobe, Zamtara, imo, Rvers, Kogi, Kebbi, Plateau, Cross River,

and Taraba”

She added that there was the need to amplify the role of women and women-led organizations to end the that women’s networks play key roles in community awareness and sensitization.