From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) said on Wednesday that it has concluded plans alongside its partners to reach out to about10 million persons in Nigeria who are victims of various forms of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV).
This, it said, was part of its activities to commemorate the 16 days of activism against gender based violence which is an annual international campaign against violence against women and girls.
The Agency explained that the campaign runs every year from 25th November, which is the International day for the elimination of violence against women, to 10th December, which is the human rights day every year.
It also explained that the project was initiated in 1991 by the First Women’s Global Leadership Institute, held by the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL) at Rutgers University.
NAPTIP, in a statement, disclosed that its theme for the 2021 exercise is: ‘watch out and speak out for justice’ and the planned outreach will include; awareness creation messages on how to report any form of SGBV and how to seek for rescue and assistance.
The statement which was signed by Vincent Adekoya, of the press and public relations unit, indicated that the planned outreach will also cover trauma counselling and legal advice for SGBV survivors, outreach to survivors in various shelters and communities, traditional and social media engagements, amongst others.
Meanwhile, the NAPTIP Director General, Dr. Fatima Waziri–Azi, said the commemoration is a strategy for individuals and groups around the world to demand for the elimination of all forms of SGBV against women, to improve advocacy on issues relating to gender-based violence, and to impress on policy makers and state actors on the need to formulate gender compliance policies and implementable programmes.
She further advocated a global effort to end all forms of gender violence, rape and discriminatory policies against the girl child, and also demanded a crisis free learning environment, deliberate assisted funding and adequate mentoring for career advancement for girls.
The Director General stated that this year’s celebration aligned with her four points strategic focus, which are; increased conviction rates of SGBV cases, sustainable rehabilitation and reintegration of survivors, enhanced awareness creation and sensitization on issues of SGBV; and improved visibility for NAPTIP and its partners.