An NGO, Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) and Ondo State Agency Against Gender-Based Violence (OSAA-GBV) have partnered to train magistrates and prosecutors on handling of gender-based violence cases.
Speaking at the training in Akure on Wednesday, WFD Country Director, Mr Adebowale Olorunmola, said the GBV law would not be effective if those who were supposed to prosecute and pass judgment on related cases had no idea of the content.
Olorunmola said that his foundation would always support inclusiveness in any process it was involved in.
He said that the foundation had been supporting the state government from formulation of the bill to becoming a law as well as at implementation stage, which was very key to its overall success.
Olorunmola commended the state government for the seriousness it had attached to eliminating GBV, adding that many states indeed passed the law and celebrated it but were not implementing it.
“We need to see that prosecution is done diligently. We want people to know about the implementation of the law and that is why we have invited you (prosecutors and magistrates) here.
“We started the implementation 10 months ago and it has been a success. All we are going to do is to brainstorm, make do with implementation of VAPP Law and make it more efficient,” he said.
Earlier, the Executive Secretary of OSSA-GBV, Bolanle Afolabi, said that the impact of GBV was always on the survivors, family members and the government.
Afolabi, who reminded the participants about the huge funds being committed by government on the prosecution of offenders, urged them to disclose their challenges in order to move forward.
Also, a member of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Oluwumi Fayemi, shared some GBV cases she had come across and gave assurance that she would be an advocate at the plenary.
Fayemi, representing Ilaje Constituency II, however, pointed out that the cases were not peculiar to women but also men, urging all to support and ensure that GBV was eliminated in the state.
Also, a Political Scientist and Gender Expert, Prof. Bukola Osunyikanmi, described GBV as a global problem and not peculiar to the state and Nigeria.
Osunyikanmi noted that the most important aspect of getting justice for survivors was speaking out, adding that every case must be addressed anytime a victim spoke out.
“There should be justice and nothing like people saying event has overtaken reported cases of gender-based violence,” she said.
Source: News Agency of Nigeria