A non governmental organisation, Women Environment and Youth Development Initiative (WOYODEV) on Wednesday sensitized female journalists in Ilorin to strengthen their understanding in the dynamics of Sextual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV), and all forms of violence against women during and post elections.
Giving an overview of Women’s Situation Room Nigeria (WSRN) an initiative that seeks to increase womens’ substantive participation in political process and conflict prevention; Tosin Apiriola Ajayi, Kwara State Coordinator WSRN and Executive Director WOYODEV said the goal was to ensure that all elections in Nigeria are peaceful and women and youth play their roles efficiently.
She said: “WSRN sees the need to train media practitioners to identify gaps in existing strategies for ensuring a peaceful, inclusive free and fair election with substantive participation of the 2023 elections”
Prevalence and impacts of Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) among marginalized population of women and girls were identified as obstacles to political participation before, during and after elections in the country.
Also speaking at a one-day training programme on ‘effective gender sensitive reporting, strengthening understanding in the dynamics of SGBV and all forms of violence against women and vulnerable groups, Biliqis Oladimeji, Director, Federal Ministry of Information and former NAWOJ deputy national president, observed that SGBV is often under-reported due to stigma, fear of reprisals, and lack of access to justice.
In her speech, “Effective gender sensitive reporting, strengthening understanding in the dynamics of SGBV and all forms of violence against women pre, during and post election” she disclosed that, “According to a survey conducted by the Nigerian government in 2014, 28% of women and 25% of men have experienced sexual violence at some point in their lives.
“A study by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2013 found that 30% of Nigerian women aged 15-49 have experienced physical violence, and 9% have experienced sexual violence, in the past 12 months”.
She also said that forms of barriers to political participation of the population could include fear of violence, limited access to information or resources, and cultural norms that limit women’s agency and mobility.
She, therefore, called on stakeholders to prevent all forms of SGBV in the 2023 general elections to ensure that the elections are peaceful and women and youth play a substantive role in sustaining and building peace at the communities, state and national levels.
Angela Okoye, President, Cor Clinics, who spoke on “Approaches and Strategies to prevent SGBV and all Forms of Violence Against Women during and After Election: Role of Media” posits that it is a threat if a woman is prevented from voting.
She identified denying woman access to vote, physical assualt, use of security apparatus among other things are what journalists should look for and report appropriately in the forthcoming general elections.
