That violence of diverse shades is frighteningly on the rise across the country and the world at large is restating the obvious.
Religious places, schools, homes, workplaces, relaxation hubs, and every conceivable place are sadly becoming centres of horrifying experience to many people, especially women and children, as a result of the unspeakable violations and acts of violence increasingly playing out there.
Where violence is intensely focused – as in Gender-Based Violence (GBV) –, age, educational status, class, religion, race, ethnicity, and tribe are immaterial. Thus, where women and girls across varied societal strata are not being violently and involuntarily engaged in sexual acts, they are either being freely violated by despicable traditional practices like early marriage, female genital mutilation, and intolerable widowhood practices, or psychologically violated through patriarchal inequitable systems.
To create more awareness on what the law says about these issues, the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) in the past weeks embarked on a campaign. Presently, FIDA Nigeria is implementing an Oxfam supported Project titled: Enabling Capacity for the adoption and effective utilisation of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPP) 2015. The project activities include amongst others, advocacy outreach in schools.
Consequently, FIDA Abuja and its members undertook intensive awareness creation campaigns on the VAPP Act in Senior Secondary Schools across Abuja.
The event commenced on the 17th of June with a visit to Anglican Girls Grammar School (AGGS) Apo. Next was Redeemer’s Private School, Living Spring, Karu on Tuesday 18th June then Government Secondary School (GSS) Garki on Monday 1st July 2019; Government Secondary School (GSS) Tudun Wada, Zone 4, was visited on Tuesday the 2nd. Thereafter, Government Secondary School (GSS), Apo, Government Secondary School, Karu, Government Secondary School (GSS) Wuse Zone 3, Fouad Lababidi Islamic Academy, Wuse Zone 3 and Regina Pacis Secondary School, Garki, Abuja all placed host to the FIDA team.
Rounding off the advocacy programme last Monday at Regina Pacis Secondary School, Garki, Abuja which saw a lot of the association’s members in attendance, Chairperson of the Association, Rekiya Adejo-Andrews, Vice Chairperson, Chibuzo Maureen Nwosu and other executive committee members expressed delight that in all, students of the various schools visited were not only excited to listen to them but demonstrated high levels of intelligence and candour which was demonstrated by the probing questions they asked at the end of each session. They also commended the heads and teachers of these schools for the warm reception received and for giving them the opportunity to reach out to these young ones.
Several copies of the simplied edition of the Act were also donated to all of these schools.
The VAAP Act came into being on account of agitations for protection of persons against various forms of violence that have in recent times consumed many a person; particularly young persons in the country.
That said, the need to protect the entire citizenry from violence such as envisaged by the Act, is key to attainment of equity and justice.
