Caritas Nigeria has raised alarm over the increasing cases of gender-based violence against women, especially sexual abuse of young girls in Enugu State.
The Team Lead of the group, Dr Fabian Bassey, stated this in Enugu on Monday while speaking on the 15 days’ activism against gender-based violence which started on Nov 15.
According to him, over ten cases of gender-based violence are reported in their office every month.
In his words, “This is mainly coming from fathers abusing their daughters. There is a case in Oji River of Enugu State where a father was abusing her two daughters with the conviction that it is his right as the father.
“Some mothers no longer feel safe leaving their female children with their husbands because of sexual abuse.
“There are also primary school children abusing themselves. We found out that some parents raise their kids in one room. We advocate bearing the number of children that one can raise.”
He said Caritas had been carrying out support for abused victims, including placing them on medication to avert contracting diseases, such as HIV.
Speaking also, Mr Linus Aguma, Programme Officer, Twinning Health Support Initiative, said that the lack of prosecution of sexual violence offenders was contributing to the increasing cases of sexual abuse.
He said, “We encourage victims to report to various government and non-government agencies nearest to them.
“We have social welfare offices at local governments, the Ministry of Women Affairs, the Nigeria Police and various NGOs that render advocacy services.
“There are also many laws to punish gender-based violence offenders. We thank Gov Peter Mbah for keying into the scheme by signing relevant laws aimed at protecting females from abuses.”
THE WHISTLER reports that the world is marking 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, a global campaign that runs from November 25 to December 10 every year.
Enugu: NGO Raises Alarm Over Rise In Gender-Based Violence is first published on The Whistler Newspaper