... Handles 200 cases so far
.. To build shelters for victims and survivors
In its drive to nip the menace of gender based violence against wonen,- girl child in the bud in the state,, Ogun State Ministry of women Affairs has called for a special court to try perpetrators and offenders .
The Commissioner for women Affairs and Social development, Hon. Adijat Adeleye made the call during a media parley held on Thursday at the Ministry, Governor's office, oke-Mosan Abeokuta.
The parley was organised in order for the Ministry to give account on the recently concluded 16 days of activism and as well its scorecard within the last two month.
Themed "Unite! Investing to prevent violence against wonen and Girls"
She said" As at last count, we have handled over 200 cases, some of them have been dispersed with and a few, we got convictions and still have a whole lot in court. That is why we are clamoring for a special court or a mobile court to be trying these perpetrators and offenders, because what we discovered is that if they still go to the regular court. Yes, our judiciary is trying so much to support us.when some of the offenders are taking to court, it as good as meeting their Waterloo in the hands of the judges, we have judges like that in Ogun State.
"When it comes to gender based violence, but then, there are others cases to be attend to, so if we have a sort of mobile court on gender violations,We believe that it will hasten the justice that we seek for the victims.
"We have victims. We have survivors. Those we tagged victims are those after being assaulted, it is ether they don't report or they report and don't get justice. But survivors are people that have been violated , they have reported and they have knowledge that can report and eventually they got justice
"Most of the time, these people assaulted; it is like a wound and when you have wound you begin to look at how can you treat this wound. Part of the healing Process for this set of people is getting justice. When they don't get justice, it is like the wound is still there. It hurts them and that is why you see some of them getting back to depression.
" On the other hand, when you come and report and and you don't get justice you wont encourage others to come, speak up, because they will be saying what eventually happened when so.. so person reported. So, We are doing so much from this end to make sure that after reporting, justice is done. She explained.
On sensitization, the commissioner stated ' We do sensitization almost every time. Let appreciate the governor because whenever we write for things like this he's always ready to give us that support and the sensitization is yielding result. Our sensitization is not limited to talking to families, communities, We had a situation whereby it is the community that will bring cases to us .
"At this time our sensitization is yielding so much results . And with this new innovation raising male champion, we have done that of Tasued, we are still going to do that in other major higher institutions in Ogun State".
The Commissioner expressed gratitude to the media for their crucial role in amplifying their activities and pleaded for continued support. She also acknowledged the Nigerian Civil Defense Corp's commendable contributions.
In a plea to parents, Adeleye urged swift reporting of abuse, assuring that the state would prosecute offenders.
She highlighted the Women Empowerment Centre's role in breaking the cycle of abuse through skill acquisition and empowerment programms, announcing plans for expansion in the coming year.
The Commissioner also highlighted the existence of the Violence Against Person Prohibition Law and the dedicated committee, led by the wife of the Governor Mrs. Bamidele Abiodun, to address gender-based violence.
Despite progress, Adeleye acknowledged a crucial need for shelters for victims, revealing Governor Abiodun's commitment to finding suitable buildings.
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