By Ebunoluwa Sessou

Often times, sexual  predators consider the children as their prey and will intimidate and threaten them from speaking out against their dastardly act. Many of these children or survivors suffer in silence and continue to live with this trauma.  

“These students who are also survivors of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, SGBV, have difficulties concentrating in class, while learning becomes difficult; the teachers also find it difficult to get feedback due to poor feedback mechanism, which culminate in most cases, in ineffective teaching and learning activities.

 “Often, these students suffer from depression, suicidal thoughts, withdrawal syndrome, excessive anger, misogyny, sexism, post-traumatic stress disorder, sexual addiction, low self-esteem and mental illness which ultimately translate into social vices.”  

These are the campaign matrix to end the menace of Sexual and Gender Based- Violence, SGBV. The campaign according to the organiser, Renaissance Foundation for Peacebuilders, REFOP, a non-governmental organisation, is about saving lives, giving voice to every victim and survivor whose voice has been silenced by archaic social norms. 

With the aim of helping girl- children to take action against the menace of Sexual and Gender-based Violence through intentional advocacy that prioritize and give focus to secondary schools students, the organisation for the past two years, has taken the campaign on the prevention and curtailment of SGBV and has already visited 59 public secondary schools in six local government areas under Educational District I and VI.  

Speaking, the Executive Director, REFOP, Oloyi Kehinde, disclosed that SGBV is a global pandemic that affects millions of people every year, with devastating physical, emotional, and psychological effects, adding that the menace has no regard for age, status or socio-economic backgrounds.  

According to him, the advocacy was a way of helping the female students overcome the spectre and become conscious of this menace, particularly in a way of safeguarding their rights and accessing remedies.