By Emem Idio, Yenagoa

YENAGOA-THE Association Against Child Sexual and Gender Based Violence (AACSGBV) has commended the Bayelsa State government for the passage and signing into law the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act, VAPP.

The Chairperson of the association Dr Eris Jewo Ibi, gave made the commendation at the 3rd National Sexual and Gender Based Violence Conference /Association Against Child Sexual and Gender Based Violence (AACSGBV) Annual General Meeting, held on July 28 and 29 in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

Jewo Ibi, who is also the outgoing National Coordinator of AACSGBV, while noting that with the passage of the VAPP Act and publication of same, Bayelsa State is ahead of many states in the country, however, pointed out that the state was yet to open a Sexual Offenders Register, which is one of the provision of the Act.

According to the Chairperson, AACSGBV as an association is a coalition comprising Non-Governmental Organisations, NGO, faith based organisation and Community Based Organisations, CBO, whose objective is to coordinate what community based actors are doing towards eliminating sexual and gender based violence.

She said: “Bayelsa State is ahead, the Bayelsa State government has not only passed the law but has also produced the hardcopy. We must commend Bayelsa because they are ahead of other states. Some states have passed the VAAP laws but have not produced copies, so it is a plus for Bayelsa State government.

“There should be Sex Offenders Register, Delta and other states already have but Bayelsa State does not have. We are starting the advocacy right away that Bayelsa State needs to have the Sexual Offenders Register because it is important to us as its shame the offender, that is another step that the gender movement has taken curb abuse.

“We were among those that came here to advocate for these laws. The Violence Against Persons Prohibition, VAPP was passed in 2021 in Bayelsa State, I have been among persons who advocated for it, I was here in 2019 to advocate that these laws should be passed.”

Speaking on the theme:”Promoting Strategic Social Security and Investment,” the Chairperson Governing Council AACSGBV, Professor Josephine Alumanah, said the Association has a mission to protect, promote the rights of women and girls, children and other vulnerable persons to provide psychological and emotional care and support, build capacity, rehabilitate victims and survivors of all forms of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) through the co-operation of relevant stakeholders.

She noted that in recent times, there has been increase in cases of rape, defilement, incest, dehumanization, discrimination and other forms of abuse and violence to mostly children, the female gender and other members of the population adding that there was an astronomical rise in violence against women and girls with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prof Alumanah lamented that lack of coordination amongst key stakeholders and poor implementation of legal frameworks, combined with entrenched gender discriminatory norms, hamper government and civil society efforts to address gender-based violence.

She called for social support for victims and survivors of SGBV and access to protection, legal and medical services, adding “If there are any sort of survivorship provision for the victims/survivors of SGBV, but there is nothing like survivors’s benefit instituted by the government where poor women and victims/survivors of SGBV may have some opportunity to benefit from the wider social security support.”

“In Nigeria, some adhoc programmes provide social support for families and individuals according to the World Bank in its 2019 report. The report indicated that just 2% of houeholds and only 4% of poor in Nigeria had access to them.

“Such deprivation of women should be of concern to governments and societies as human rights issues.There should be doubling efforts for girl’s education and women’s empowerment,” she stated.