YWCA: Waging war against gender violence

Young Women Christain Association (Y.W.C.A) is a non-governmental, nonprofit-making and non-partisan organisation that has been in existence in Nigeria since 1906 and cuts across all geopolitical regions of Nigeria. Y.W.C.A Nigeria is using this opportunity to join with the international group in celebrating gender-based violence week, which has started for the past two weeks in which Y.W.C.A of Nigeria, is also a partner with other civil organizations.

Gender-based Violence (G.B.V) is the general term used to capture violence that occurs as a result of normative role expectations associated with each gender, along with unequal power relationship between the two genders within the context of specific society.

While women, girls, men and boys can be victims of GBV, the main focus of this resource package is on violence against women and girls. One of the objectives of the Young Women Christian Association of Nigeria is protecting the vulnerable women and girls. The Reining  platform for action adopted in 1995, described GBV as violation of the rights of women in situations of armed conflict, including systematic rape, sexual slavery, forced pregnancy, forced sterilisation, forced abortion, forced use of contraceptives, prenatal sex infanticide. It further recognized the particular vulnerabilities of women, belonging to minorities, the elderly and displaced indigenous refugees and migrant communities, women living in impoverished rural or remote areas, or detention.

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Forms of violence Against Women

• Domestic violence, physical violence.
• Sexual violence e.g. sexual slavery, sexual harassment, trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation
• Forced exposure to pornography. Forced abortion. Forced marriage
• Female genital mutilation. Virginity tests. Incest.
• Psychological violence
• Emotion violence

Violence against girls and women occurs at different points in their life cycle. Many women experience multiple episodes of violence that may start in the prenatal period and continue through childhood to adulthood and old age. Thank God for the life of our sister society (FIDA) Benue, which reported the case of rape against two suspects; Andrew Ogbuja (51 years and his son, Victor, who had been having carnal knowledge of Miss Ochanga, who painfully recalled how they would drug her before molesting her. They threatened her with death if she ever revealed what was going on to anybody. What a poor girl! The poor girl contracted VVF, which later led to her ultimate death on 17 October, 2018.

Perpetrators of such offence must be held accountable and  the punishments meted out to them must be firm and effective enough to serve as a deterrent to others in society. This is just one out of  the numerous gender-based violence happening in our country and the whole world. Our religious bodies should rise up to kick against this menace.

• Mrs Temilade is the newly elected National President, of Young Women Christian Association.