The chairperson of Nigeria association of women journalists (NAWOJ) Kano chapter, Comrade Bilkisu Ado Zango has urged government and relevant stakeholders to intensify more efforts towards mitigating sexual and gender based violence.
Bilkisu made the call during a meeting on gender based violence, organized by Partnership to Engage reform and learn (PERL-ECP),as part of 16 days activism to commemorate International day for the elimination of violence aginst women, held in kano.
According to her, there are a lot of silent voices that are afraid of speaking out against sexual and gender based violence.
The chairperson pointed out that increasing the number of sexual referral centers in Kano would go a long way in curtailing the issue as there is only one sexual referrel center in the state.
Comrade Bilkisu explained that each and every member of the society has a vital role to play in bringing an end to sexual and gender based violence which has became a menace to the society.
“The issue is becoming more rampant, more needs to be done to ensure that parpetrators are prosecuted”
Earlier in her remarks,the director Engaged citizens pillar (ECP) PERL,Hajiya Hajara Sulaiman said the meeting was organized to create a platform where women in Kano can come together and see how they can address issues surrounding violence against women.
She explained that,the organization was working with the media,civil society organizations, community based organizations and traditional institutions to reach out wider stakeholders and profer lasting solutions to gender based violence.
Hajara Sulaiman maintained that part of the recommendations of the meeting include visiting some media organizations to advocate for airing programs that are against sexual and gender based violence.
The director urged participants to make judicious use of knowledge gained and ensure that gender based violence becomes history.
“PERL is working with citizens to ensure citizens voice count”
Presenting a paper titled ‘violence against women in our society’ Hajiya Mairo Bello identified various types of violence such as physical,domestic,femicide, sexual abuse among others as some of the challenges being faced by women globally.
Some of the participants who spoke to Radio Nigeria Dr. Mariya Aliyu Waziri,Fatima Yunusa and Ambassador Aisha Ibrahim Alasan,shared their experiences on how they perceive sexual and gender based violence.
They charged government and relevant stakeholders to map out stiffer sanctions for perpetrators of the evil act to have a peaceful society.
KHADIJAH ALIYU