Wife of the Ekiti State Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi, has called on all stakeholders to join hands with the government to wage war against sexual and domestic violence in the state.She lamented that the trend is increasing and becoming worrisome saying something must be done to curb the trend.
She said government was saddened that in spite of the existing laws prohibiting gender based violence, the state continues to witness issues of rape, defilement and human trafficking almost on daily basis.
She attributed non- implementation of the gender based violence prohibition law, child right law, equal opportunities law and other legislation put in place her husband, Dr Kayode Fayemi by the immediate past government as reasons for the rise in the social vices.
She spoke in Ado Ekiti on Thursday during a stakeholders’ meeting held to combat violence against women in Ekiti state .
She said: “When Fayemi left, some of the laws put in place to safeguard the lives of women and girls child were not implemented,” saying this constituted a serious snag in the fight against the practice.
She added further that at a stakeholders’ meeting held recently, it was agreed that part of the policy thrust should be that steps must be taken on how to take care of the emotional needs of victims before seeking or get justice through the court of law.
“Most of the victims used to be emotionally down, because we have all failed them at one time or the other, that is why we must rise up to fight this scourge.”
Mrs Fayemi said the three key areas that needed to be examined by stakeholders include the causes of gender based violence, how to use legal framework to resolve some of the issues revolving around this scourge and how to break the culture of silence among victims.
“The third one is how to focus on inter agency collaboration, because this is not a problem that can be solved by a body.”
An Appeal Court’s Judge, Justice Uzor Ndukwe- Anyanwu, expressed worries over the increasing rate of the violence against women in Ekiti state adding the Nigerian All Female Judges Association has shown interest in the issue, particularly how to resolve the problem and make women safe wherever they go.
The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Wale Fapohunda, said the government is ready to go all hogs to prevent the state from being tagged a thriving land for violence against women and girl child.
“Reported cases of sexual rape, violence rape, and child defilement have now reached alarmingly rate that requires urgent need for joint action between government and other stakeholders to reverse the scourge. We are committed to zero tolerance for all forms of violence against women and children. Apart from legal interventions, we also need to take another step that photographs of convicted offenders should be placed on state’s website and announced on state broadcasting service. Also in cases of defilement, we insist on compulsory.