Women in Abuja walk against child molestation, demands stiffer penalty

WOMEN under the auspices of ABUJA MOMS on Saturday stormed the streets of the Federal Capital Territory to protest against rising cases of rape and child molestation in the country, urging authorities to ensure stiffer penalties to perpetrators.

The women in their number, converged at JD Pleasure Park, Wuse II, Abuja as early as 7 a.m from where the protest walk began round major streets of the capital city.

They carried placards of various inscriptions, “Say No to Child Molestation”, “Enforce the Law, Don’t Cover Crime”, “Shatter the Silence, Report Molestation.

According to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) a total of 11,200 reported cases of rape were received over the whole of 2020.

The Founder of ABUJA MOMS Empowerment Foundation, Happiness Ani, while addressing newsmen,  frowned at cases where the law enforcement agencies are the ones to tell the parents to settle out of court, insisting that whether it is the father or the mother that is molesting the child, the law should take its full course.

She noted that it was wrong for perpetrators of such heinous crime to go free in the society, while the victims carry the burden throughout their lives.

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She said: “We are urging parents to speak up against child molestation and to fight when a child gets molested to make sure that the victim gets justice. Oftentimes, our parents are made to keep quiet, parents are cajoled into thinking that it’s okay to keep quiet when your child gets molested.”

She described as satanic, a case that was reported after several years, where a man of over 40 years molested a 10-year-old girl then in Junior Secondary School, and the grudge the girl had nurtured against the mother who was aware of the incident but never spoke out about it, because the father was not around.

“We are trying to let the world know that these crimes do happen and it is important that children are protected.

“Aside this Walk, we have ABUJA MOMS legal team that will fight pro bono for victims of child molestation,” she said.

Also speaking, Adaeze Ochi, Director of Programme for ABUJA MOMS, said the Walk was designed to sensitise women that there is a place that they can be healed of ills and burdens some of them have carried over the years.

She noted that in the past a lot of women and children were afraid to speak out when they are molested, sometimes by their close relatives, and that ABUJA MOMS has offered a platform for such victims to get justice.