Centre for journalism launches handbook on reporting SGBV

Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) has launched a Gender-Based Violence Reporting Handbook in Abuja as part of the celebration of International Women’s Day.

The event which was held on Tuesday had a six-member panellist who submitted that gender issues are under-reported and stunted by cultural and religious biases which manifest in other social challenges.

The panellists include Ms Motunrayo Alaska, Mr Noel Balogun, Hola Ayeye, Mrs Ibim Semenitari, Amina Alhassan and Ms Busola Jibola who moderated the session.

One of the panellists, Ibim Semenitari, Executive Director, Archedeacon Education Center, charged Nigerians to take the social media space to continue to put issues of gender violence in any form to the public space and maintain the desired narrative for change and gender equality.

Mrs Semenitari said as part of this process, Nigerian women who are gifted with the ability for production of animation, should immediately begin the animation of these 208 legislators and commit them to the history of the internet, as men who fought against gender equality.

She said it was important to commit these legislators to the internet as measure to serve as deterrence to others who may want to tow this line in the future.

“The 208 who voted against their wives and daughters not having a state should be fished out and put in an animation,” Semenitari said.

In her keynote address, the Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, Executive Director, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC) said the worrisome statistics of gender based violence must be addressed using legal tools to check it.

She said Nigeria has ratified many international treaties on gender based violence but was yet to domesticate them for effective implementation for a saner clime.

She called for a Human Right Approach as means to tackle the problem employing legal tools.

“Enhance synergy among actors responding to synergy among response sectors, police, CSOs, media, Ministries, Department and Agencies to facilitate effective support for victims of GBV.

Akiyode-Afolabi said “The media can help by bringing the spotlight on the violators who must be named and shamed. If the media choose to bring the spotlight to bear on the violators of women and girls rights a lot of changes will be made.

“Support access to justice: Policy responses to GBV must ensure the ability of the justice system and law enforcement to act as mechanisms of accountability, leverage opportunities to create a more transparent justice system this can be achieved by by giving special consideration to priority cases and expediting prosecution of GBV offenders through establishment of special courts for GBV cases.”

The Executive Director also said it was important to “Provide specialized training that should be provided for GBV responders such as case workers, criminal justice professionals, police, prosecutors, judges and magistrates, lawyers and legal aid providers.

She said “Necessary investment on sensitization at the community level should also integrate community education with GBV awareness and ensure that women’s networks play key roles in community awareness and sensitization.” Should be pursued

This she noted would “leverage these networks and platforms will also serve to amplify women’s voices and strengthen women’s leadership on eliminating violence against women and girls in the immediate response and in long-term recovery phases.”

She maintained that stakeholders should deploy human rights based approach in the provision of essential services for GBV Survivors.

This she noted was essential due to certain limitations that women with disabilities encounter, they might have challenges in accessing these services such as health centers, sexual assault referral centers, police stations, etc.

Acting Executive Director, Dr. Tobi A. Oluwatoyin said uplifting the Nigerian Woman is a smart choice, not just an issue of morality because such decision would improve the nation.

He said that the book launch by CJID has just presented to the public a manual to serve as agenda setters for putting the issue of gender inclusion in the mainstream and sustaining it there for public appreciation.