…UN calls for justice for survivors
By Hassan Zaggi
Following the increasing cases of Gender Based Violence (GBV) coupled with a new trend of political violence against women, the federal government on Tuesday admitted that it is overwhelmed.
The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Dame Pauline Tallen, made the disclosure at the formal inauguration of leadership committee of Call to Action on the protection of GBV in emergencies in Abuja.
Call to Action on Protection from GBV in Emergencies (CtA) is a global multi-stakeholder initiative that aims to transform the way humanitarian actors address GBV in emergencies.
The goal is to ensure that every humanitarian response from the earliest phases of a crisis provides safe and comprehensive services for GBV survivors and mitigate the risk of GBV.
Call to Action partners include states and donors, international organisations and Non Governmental Organisations (NGO).
Speaking at the event, the Minister lamented that GBV survivors hardly get justice, hence, making the perpetrators to go unpunished.
Dame Tallen, therefore, insisted that the Ministry of Justice must put in place mechanism to ensure that survivors of GBV get justice quickly.
“Yes, government is overwhelmed but Mr President is committed to ensuring that the problem is addressed with the inauguration of this Call to Action.
“We are demanding for justice for all the millions of cases of GBV that are lying fallow at the courts. People cannot rape innocent boys and girls and go scot free. Unless the perpetrators are dealt with in accordance with the law of the land, the problem will continue unabated.”
She further noted that: “It is not just enough to domesticate the Child Rights Act or the Violence Against Persons (VAP) Act, but implementation is what we are calling for so that any person that is caught violating these laws, must be properly dealt with irrespective of who they are. If we have one or two of such cases, it will help stem down the menace.
Speaking on the rise in political violence against women, the Minister said: “Political violence to the fact that thugs are organized to scare women and delegates are locked up and hidden somewhere, delay the primaries till midnight or early hours of the morning.”
While saying that the delay in prosecution of perpetrators of Gender-Based Violence is systemic, the Minister said: “We are calling for speedy dispensation of justice.”
On his part, the United Nations (UN) Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator, Matthias Schmale, called on the Nigerian government to make every effort to end GBV in the country, noting that “UN is here to support the government.”
While calling for more action on the part of the government, the UN Chief said: “Our commitment is to support the leadership of this country in showing leadership and not just declaring an emergency around these issues but doing something to ending them.
“In this respect, I implore leaders to step up action on what they are doing. We stand to play any supportive role to whatever the leadership of this country is going to do to end GBV.”
He called for justice and severe punishment against perpetrators of GBV in the country.
“The UN does not support capital punishment. We do not believe that is the way forward for many reasons from the human right perspective.
“We must emphasise that justice is key in GBV issues. We must ensure justice for the survivors and ensure that perpetrators get the punishment that they deserve.
“We don’t prescribe capital punishment. We want clear justice and strong punishment to perpetrators.”
Speaking, the Country Representative of the United Nation Population Fund (UNFPA) in Nigeria, Ms Ulla Mueller, applauded the Minister of Women Affairs for the domestication of the VAP Act in most states of the country.
According to her: “The VAP Act is in response to GBV. The VAP Act provides the legal framework whereby perpetrators can be taken to court and ensure access to justice for all survivors whether its woman, boy, girl or man.
“I want to commend the Minister of Women Affairs because under her leadership a number of states have domesticated the VAP Act and the framework.”
Speaking on the inauguration of the Call to Action Committee, the UNFPA Representative said: “What we have seen today is we have seen that under the leadership of the Minister of Women Affairs strongly supported by the Ministry of Justice is sustained political commitment and the political will to actually change the situation to end any form of GBV in Nigeria.”
Responding to questions from journalists, the Co-Chair of the Call to Action Committee, the Ambassador of Denmark in Nigeria, Sune Krogstrup, said that the Committee is going to “establish a frame work of accountability where we talk about what activities partners have undertaken, what kind of results have been delivered and commit ourselves to increase the impact of the work we are doing in Nigeria.”
