CSJ partners Nigeria Police Radio on Campaign Against Gender-based Violence

The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has partnered the Nigeria Police Radio 99.1 FM, Abuja in the campaign against gender-based violence (GBV) in FCT.

The programme which runs twice in a week during the early morning Gender Concern stream of the station helps to sensitize Nigerians on the effects of the GBV and what society, government, religious leaders and other stakeholders can do to end the problem.

Gender-based violence refers to harmful acts directed at an individual or a group of individuals based on their gender. It is based on gender inequality, the abuse of power and harmful norms. The term is used to describe the fact that men have more power over women. But while women and girls suffer more from GBV, men and boys can also be targeted.

Funded by the European Union, the radio project is part of the deliverables for the Agents for Citizen-driven Transformation (EU-ACT) Programme which is implemented by CSJ. The EU-ACT project works with civil society organisations (CSOs) to enable them to be credible and effective drivers of change for sustainable development in Nigeria.

The component of the EU-ACT project implemented by the Centre for Social Justice aims to make the Federal Capital Territory Abuja fully responsive to gender-based violence. In the end, it is expected that citizens, ministries, departments and agencies of government and partner Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) acquire strategic knowledge, skill and competences on budgeting to respect, protect and fulfil Nigeria’s obligations on gender-based violence.

In 2021, the National Human Rights Commission said it recorded a total of 4,000 complaint calls from victims of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in nine months alone.

An earlier survey by the Centre for Social Justice showed that about 25 percent of women in the Federal Capital Territory Abuja will excuse gender-based violence perpetuated by a husband.

“In both streams of the survey, more women who are at the receiving end of domestic violence justified the violence than the men who engage in the violence against women. This is a surprising result,” Eze Onyekpere, the lead director of CSJ said.

“In the circumstances, the violence against women and its justification engages the state’s responsibility to educate and raise awareness; to prosecute offenders and mete appropriate punishment as well as to take preventive action,” Weng Dung, the gender and inclusivity officer of CSJ said.

Data from CSJ show the FCT has more women who have experienced physical violence than the national average and a proportion of men and women still justify domestic violence.

Although campaigns to end gender-based violence have intensified, experts say the crime persists due to lack of requisite punishment for offenders. Gender advocates on their part attribute its rise to the slow dispensation of justice in the trial of sexual offenders.