Empowering Women for Excellence Initiative (EWEI), a Kaduna-based NGO, mobilized community members on Thursday to promote safe spaces for women and girls against Gender-Based Violence.
Ms Balkisu Gwabin, EWEI’s Organizational Development and Partnership Officer, stated at the start of the engagement in Kaduna that the goal was to increase community participation in combating GBV.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), participants were drawn from Unguwan Romi in the state’s Chikun Local Government Area.
Religious and traditional leaders, youths, girls, and women leaders, spouses of project beneficiaries, members of the Civilian Joint Task Force, and personnel of the Kaduna State Vigilance Service are among those present.
Gwabin added that the mobilization was part of the NGO’s “Our Safe Spaces (OSS)” project, which was funded by the UN Trust Fund to end violence against women.
She went on to say that the goal was to improve violence prevention and response to women and girls.
She stated that the project, which started in 2019, would be completed in 2022.
She went on to say that the mobilization was part of long-term strategies for community members to take the lead in combating GBV.
She also stated that mobilization was critical to protecting women’s and girls’ rights in order for them to thrive and contribute to the development of their respective communities.
The officer explained that the OSS project was created to provide physical and financial support to women and girls who have experienced GBV.
“Our Safe Spaces project is currently benefiting over 450 direct and indirect beneficiaries in the Kaduna communities of Unguwan Romi and Unguwan Dosa.”
“EWEI has also aided beneficiaries in the formation of cooperative societies as a long-term strategy for the women to continue to help themselves and other women in their communities.”
“The project also promotes beneficiaries’ access to psychosocial support systems and opportunities for economic empowerment to help them normalize their lives,” Gwabin explained.
One of the resource persons, Ms Jelilat Abioye, stated that the mobilization would enable community members to develop a community-led work plan of actions against GBV.
She claims that by doing so, stakeholders will be in charge of ending all forms of violence against women and girls in their communities.
Another resource person, Mrs. Amina Mohammed, discussed some of the provisions of the state’s Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law 2018 and how it may be utilized to punish perpetrators.
Mohammed, a Kaduna-based lawyer, urged community members to speak up so that the justice system could prosecute perpetrators of GBV.
Mr Marcus Magaji, a community member, expressed gratitude to EWEI for organizing the event and requested that the gesture be extended to men who were also being violated.
Magaji explained that some men had lost their jobs, making them vulnerable to physical and psychological torture at home.
Another community member, Mr Linus Makama, stated that the engagement had provided the men with the knowledge they needed to collaborate in providing safe spaces for women and girls.
Mr Dutse Sarki, a traditional ruler, urged the state government to enact legislation to prosecute kidnappers who raped women and girls in the communities.