Bimbola Oyesola 08033246177, [email protected]
Against the backdrop of the increase in sexual violence and with the current estimation that 137 women lose their lives on a daily basis, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has mandated the Federal Government to immediately ratify the International Labour Organisation’s Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment.
According to official statistics from the United Nations Women, 35 per cent of women all over the world have experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence by a non-intimate partner.
The study estimated that 137 women lose their lives on daily basis revealed that this was as a result of violence mainly in the hands of family members.
Equally, out of the total number of trafficked persons globally, 72 per cent of them are women and girls, while in Africa south of the Sahara, one out of every four girls are most likely to be married out before their 18th birthday.
Based on this prevalent problem, the NLC stated that the best gift that the Federal Government of Nigeria could give to the Nigerian people, especially women, on the commemoration of the 2020 International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, is to ratify ILO’s Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment.
The NLC declared that the ratification of this important centenary convention of the ILO should be done with the same zeal with which the Federal Government ratified Convention 185 on Seafarer’s Identity Documents Convention (Revised), 2003, as amended.
NLC president, Ayuba Wabba, noted that Uruguay has beaten Nigeria and the rest of the world to pole position as the first country to ratify Convention 190. “Yet, there is no gainsaying the fact that it would still be great if Nigeria becomes the second country to ratify this convention and bring it into force globally,” he said.
According to Wabba, this would not only bolster the advocacy against sexual violence by organised labour and other like-minded civil society organisations, it would also demonstrate to the world how seriously Nigeria takes sexual crimes, violence and harassment.
The year 2020 celebration is themed: “The Impact of COVID-19 on Survivors of Conflict-related Sexual Violence in Conflict.”
Wabba said the ratification was imperative, given the fact that the current COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the incidence of sexual violence in conflict across the country.
He said, “Owing to the restrictions in movement, many victims of sexual violence have been confined almost permanently with their abusers thus creating opportunities for repeats of abuses.
“The dread of infection with COVID-19 and limited access to healthcare facilities and social support mean that victims of sexual violence are forced to live for prolonged period with the hurt, scare and scars of their experience.”
He said that the United Nations General Assembly designated June 19 every year as the date for the commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict.
The labour leader said that the aim of the commemoration was to raise awareness on the need to put an end to conflict-related sexual violence, to honour the victims and survivors of sexual violence around the world.
He added that the aim was also to pay tribute to all those who have courageously devoted their lives to the eradication of sexual crimes and in some cases paid the supreme sacrifice for doing so.
The NLC president said that the UN Security Council further acknowledged sexual violence as a tactic for terrorism and affirms that victims of trafficking and sexual violence by terrorist groups are eligible for official redress as victims of terrorism.
The ILO, the first specialised agency of the United Nations, during its ILO centenary in June 2019, adopted Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment in the World of Work.
Wabba said the Convention was expected to come into force in June 2020, upon ratification by at least two countries.
He also said that the NLC and its allies in civil society commemorate the day in solidarity with victims of sexual violence in Nigeria, the African continent and all over the world. Wabba said that statistics showed that majority of the victims of sexual crimes are females.