• Says students raping teachers trend in Ogun

Shina Abubakar, Osogbo

A non-governmental organisation, Centre For Women’s Health And Information(CEWHIN) on Tuesday disclosed that the rate of incest in Osun state is worrying and required quick attention.

The group also urged religion and community leaders to expose the menace with a view to checking its occurrence rather than covering it up.

A Director with the Organisation, Mrs Atinuke Odukoya, stated during the Close Out/ Accountability Forum on Strengthening Access To Community Based Psychosocial Support System For Survivors of Violence Against Women and Girls, sponsored by Ford Foundation, held at NUJ Press Centre, Osogbo.

She urged leaders of thought, particularly religious and community heads to embark on an enlightenment campaign against the social menace, being custodians of culture and religious ethos.

She also disclosed that the group’s work which covers Osun, Ogun and Oyo states revealed that student abuse/rape of teachers through the deployment of charms is trending in Ogun state and constitute a major societal problem.

According to her, the study in Oyo state showed that the spate of gender-based violence is very high and the group embarked on training Community Psychosocial First Aiders (PFA’s) who were first responders to victims of sexual abuse.

“Issues of incest are on the high in Osun and it is very disturbing, stakeholders need to collaborate to check the menace. In Ogun issues of students raping/abusing teachers sexually is the major concern for the people, while in Oyo it is gender-based violence is a major concern. Religious leaders need to speak out against the abnormal trend, there is a need for them to understand they were the custodian of our culture.

“On our side, through the help of Ford Foundation, we have trained over 240 people including religious groups as Community Psychosocial First Aiders (PFA’s) who were first responders to victims of sexual abuse been trained in the three states on how to help the victims and put a stop to it.

“The issue of sexual abuse whether in the community or place of worship is a lot and It is very disturbing. Everybody is trying to cover it for some reason. It is a lot.

“There is a need for massive awareness for prevention purposes. It is better for us not to have children that are raped or defiled. One of the core purposes of this programme is for us to get people that can help victims with mental health support.

“We want them to have access to Psychosocial First Aid who can point them discreetly to a psychologist or psychotherapist so that they can have the trauma support that is required.

“We need to put a stop to the ‘third party embarrassment and shame’. People need to know that they have to speak up. Some people keep silent because they felt that reporting will break the home offenders”, she added.

One of the trainees, a person with a disability, Mrs Funmilayo Abdullahi, said the training has exposed PWDs to ways of resolving gender-based violence, saying various PWDs clusters benefitted from the programme and commended the organisers.