By Pwanagba Agabus, Jos
A Non Governmental Organization, Inclusive Friends Association (IFA),
says the organization had trained People With Disabilities (PWD) in 13 states and Abuja to advocate against gender based violence.
IFA decried the rise in violence against PWDs and how they suffer and remain mute on the subject of gender based violence, encouraged them to speak up.
Program Officer of the organisation, Mrs Okawunmi Okupe, disclosed this in an interview with journalists on Monday in Jos, the Plateau State Capital.
According to her, IFA has successfully conducted a 5-day training workshop for young persons with disabilities to advocate on gender-based violence against women and girls with disabilities.
She said that the programme was titled, “Amplifying Voices: Building Young Persons with Disabilities to advocate on gender based violence against Women and Girls with Disability”.
“A call was published on our website and social media platforms, and we received 315 response. Then we carefully selected the best 13, ” she explained.
She said that the advocates were trained on the need to amplify their voices, and continue to embolden more women and girls with disabilities to speak up against any form of violence.
Okupe said that women with disabilities had been silent on gender based-violence because they feared withdrawal of assistance by the violator who might be someone close to them.
She added that inaccessibility to justice and redress was also another reason for their silence.
“We need you to advocate to amplify your voices, continue to strengthen more women and girls with disabilities to speak up against any form of violence so that we can reach our goal of mitigating gender-based violence in Nigeria” Okupe said.
The officer said the advocates trained were enthusiastic and passionate about the project and were all ready for the task ahead.
The 13 states selected for the training were Abia, Anambra, Bauchi, Benue, Cross Rivers, Ekiti, Gombe, Kastina, Lagos, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto and Abuja.
