Sexual And Gender Based Violence Archives - Centre for Social Justice

CSJ Seeks Collaboration of Federal Ministry of Health, Others to Tackle Gender Violence

Center for Social Justice — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 06:52:14 +0000

The Centre for Social Justice and her CSO have made an advocacy call to the Federal Ministry of Health on the project “budgeting for Gender-based violence” with support from EU- ACT.
The objective of the visit was to present recommendations and strategies for reducing GBV in the FCT and Nigeria at large.

The Director of Gender, Adolescent school health and elderly care (GASHE) Dr. Olluoraye John appreciated CSJ for the recommendations and said the ministry has policies and plans to reduce GBV and FGM but has challenges of funds and human resources. He assured CSJ of the department’s willingness to partner with CSJ and CSOs within and outside the country to make the fight against gender-based violence a front burner issue.

CSJ also visited the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs where they were warmly welcomed by the Deputy Director , Women Development, Mr. Adamu Samaila Web.
He appreciated CSJ for producing the manual “Budgeting for the Reduction of Gender-Based Violence” which he believes will serve as an oversight to the ministry, when carrying out its mandates .

He assured CSJ that they will study the manual and see areas the ministry is lacking and make redresses. He also solicits support from CSOs to see that the legislature has a change of mind towards the Gender bill and other bills submitted towards reducing GBV and gender inequality.
CSJ also paid advocacy visits to select media houses including the Daily Trust Newspapers, Leadership Newspaper, Kapital FM and Nigeria Police Radio.

Gender-based violence remains a challenge that significantly constrains women’s autonomy and opportunities in Nigeria. According to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), no fewer than 158,517 complaints of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) against women and children were received in 2021. Ultimately, it behooves all Nigerians to remain diligent and cast away the complacency that has hitherto been the bane of the victims of abuse in our midst.

The post CSJ Seeks Collaboration of Federal Ministry of Health, Others to Tackle Gender Violence appeared first on Centre for Social Justice .

Osinachi’s Death: 24.9% FCT Women Believe Husband Can Beat Wife

Victor Okeke — Wed, 13 Apr 2022 10:59:28 +0000

A survey by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) in Nigeria has shown that about 25 percent of women in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja will excuse gender-based violence perpetuated by a husband.

This becomes relevant following last weekend’s reported death of Nigeria’s gospel singer, Osinachi Nwachukwu, after allegations of domestic violence from her husband.

On Monday, the police in FCT arrested her husband, Mr Peter Nwachukwu, in a case of suspected homicide, noting that the brother of the late gospel singer, reported the case to them.

However, the survey report showed that women who are mostly the victims of gender-based violence would acquiesce a husband in beating his wife in at least one of the five specified circumstances, as compared with 18% of men.

“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.

The survey suggests that women who have experienced both physical and sexual violence are more likely to have sought help than women who have experienced only sexual violence as well as those who have experienced only physical violence.

“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.

According to Dung 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.

Incidents of gender-based violence have continued to top the chart of discourse among stakeholders, despite efforts by the government to check the threat.

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.

The post Osinachi’s Death: 24.9% FCT Women Believe Husband Can Beat Wife appeared first on Centre for Social Justice .

Domestic Violence And The Need For Adequate Social Support

Victor Okeke — Wed, 13 Apr 2022 10:50:42 +0000

The COVID-19 pandemic has led the world into a frenzy. Practicing safe hygiene, social distancing, and travel restrictions have become common sights throughout the globe.

However, the effects of COVID-19 also include a spike in domestic violence and is presumed to be seen continually across the globe as stress continues to mount. Many victims of domestic violence are still trapped with the perpetrators, with no means to report it. Studies have shown that women are more likely to face violence when confined with little or no support of law enforcement agencies due to the pandemic.

The accumulation of stressful events poses a risk of significant physical and emotional harm to these victims of domestic abuse. These adverse effects may extend for long periods due to continued abuse, ongoing psychological effects of abuse, or fear of the abuser.

It is a frequently reported behavior in abusers to try to isolate and control their victims so as they may not report violence. As the mobility of the victim is restricted and the perpetrator can easily control access to social media and other means of possible reportage, it is next to impossible for the victim to reach out for help.

Places of worship and communal places of congregation that were used for finding emotional reprieve have limited access currently. As a consequence of controlling behaviour by the abusers, mental distress increases and may range from heightened stress, frustration, and anger to severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Recently, an Apapa Magistrate’s Court in Lagos sentenced one Promise Iwuala to 15 years imprisonment for raping a girl (names withheld) in Tedi community, Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State.

The convict, a gateman at 15, Samous Street, Tedi, Ojo-Alaba, was arrested by policemen attached to Festac Police Station with the support of Lagos State Domestic and Sexual and Violence Response Team, DSVRT and Family Support Unit and charged to court on a three-count charge.

The victim’s mother said that the convict lured the child with candy and biscuits to his apartment, whenever she was at work.

This has prompted the Lagos State Government to commence the publication of details of sex offenders in the state to serve as deterrence to others.

The Executive Secretary of the Lagos State DSVA, Mrs Titilola Vivour- Adeniyi said that the measure was also in furtherance of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s zero tolerance to all forms of domestic and sexual violence.

In Nigeria, domestic violence is a societal problem that affects women and girl-child in form of rape, maltreatment, deprivations and physical and emotional punishments. It is often supported by culture and religion therefore making women suffer in silence. Domestic violence against women in Nigeria has caused miscarriages, maternal death, psychological trauma and broken marriages with negative consequences on children. Compounding the problem of domestic violence is the issue of women’s perception and level of awareness of what constitutes domestic violence in the society.

New data from the Centre for Social Justice on Sexual and Gender Based Violence and the Budget (A Review of Federal Capital Territory: 2016-2019) shows that the FCT has more women who have experienced physical violence than the national average. In fact, a proportion of men and women still justify domestic violence.

This is partly because oftentimes women are socialized into accepting some form of domestic violence as normal by culture and family members. Such women believe that they are the problem and not their abusive partners. So, women have come to accept beating by their partners or husbands as normal.

The study equally revealed that there is a relationship between level of education and perception of domestic violence among rural women in FCT. This means there is the need to increase girl-child education among the rural populace in Nigeria. Education builds women’s capacity for economic self-dependence and awareness of what constitutes domestic violence in their community and culture. With education enlightenment and advocacy will be more effective and rural women will be given a voice in the society

For victims, social support has been found to both mediate and moderate the relationship between intimate partner violence and mental health.

Social support can be interpreted as social capital. It is an important intervention during stressful events in the family and the individual’s life. Under undue stress, social support is key in relieving the victim’s distress.

Research has identified the beneficial effects of social support on women’s overall mental health. Having stronger family support increases the strength to deal with psychological distress as well as with the abuse. A woman staying with an abusive husband and his family is twice more likely to develop psychological distress compared to a woman having the support of her parents. Adequate social support decreases the risk of violence in a relationship and its negative impacts if present.

The perception that one has access to informational, emotional, psychological, financial or instrumental aid has been associated with positive health outcomes. Emotional support by friends and family prevents deterioration of mental health by them acting as a buffer or moderator to provide a positive impact regardless of the severity of abuse.

The truth is, the interactions and dynamics of social support are complex, but they always show a positive correlation with the quality of life and negative correlation with the extent of depression in the victims.

Other research carried out among the abused women in an Australian shelter have shown that social support in the lives of women causes a substantial reduction in posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety whereas ongoing abuse and the absence of social support contributes to psychological distress. Another study found that higher social support was related to decreased abuse and higher quality of life at multiple points in time of the study.

Abused women who receive emotional, tangible, and institutional support are less vulnerable to psychologically damaging effects of violence and their physical safety is also maintained. Social support influences coping strategies and provides greater perceived options that contribute to increasing the feasibility of a battered woman’s ability to deal with abusers. Earlier studies have reported that social support works in both ways, directly promoting recovery from stressful experiences and crises experienced in the family as well as the protective role of a buffer against the effects of life stressors.

A study conducted by Mahapatro and Singh in 2019 revealed that women who were supported by their parental family moved on to engage in active coping. It was also reported that they needed more social support, particularly from their parental family. They said that an institution could only provide temporary relief from fear and anxiety, but support from the parental family was permanent. In India, the concept of a woman seeking formal support and institutional help is not welcomed by the community. Therefore, the government-designed and implemented institutional programs have often not been utilized optimally. It is only the natal family that extends support to the abused women.

On the whole, it is established that the psychological impacts of lockdown and being trapped with the abusers are wide-ranging, long-lasting, and unabating. The implication of this is that the government should take the initiative to ensure their safety and well-being. This may be achieved by means of awareness campaigns and of dissemination of coping and stress management techniques to combat boredom, activation of social networks, and emotional help and counseling through telecommunication.

Another concern is that of bystanders and neighbors. Instilling a sense of moral and social responsibility will improve reportage. Frontline workers such as postal workers, garbage collectors, food delivery persons, and home appliances repair persons, and people who visit the family and discern DV, should come forward and report violence in the current times. Social groups, state and non-state actors like the Centre for Social Justice must continue in interventions to further rebuild social networks of women to address the conflicts and reduce vulnerability with timely access of rights while seeking justice.

The post Domestic Violence And The Need For Adequate Social Support appeared first on Centre for Social Justice .

CSJ Strengthens Institutions in Fight Against SGBV/VAWG/HP and SRHR

Center for Social Justice — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 01:14:17 +0000

Under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s Spotlight project, the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) built the capacity of relevant agencies working on Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV), Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG), Harmful Practices (HP) and breaches of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Women and Girls (SRHR).

The programme ensured that various institutions with mandates related to SGBV/VAWG/HP and SRHR were strengthened to better protect the rights of women and girls and to eradicate all forms of violence.

CSJ has recorded success through the implementation of the following activities: Training of Trainers on implementation of National Action Plans on SGBV/VAWG/HP and SRHR for Women’s Rights Groups, CSOs and Faith Based Organisations in the focal states of Adamawa, Federal Capital Territory and Sokoto States.

Capacity Building of Strategic Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Adamawa and Sokoto State Government on Responses & Intervention and Implementation of National and International Standards/Plans on SGBV/VAWG/HP and SRHR.

Capacity Building of Law Enforcement Agencies in Adamawa, Sokoto States and FCT on Prevention and Responses to SGBV/VAWG/HP and SRHR. One of our key recommendations which is the development of a standard operating procedure for SGBV cases has been adopted by the Police who are in the final stages of publishing their SOP.

Capacity Building of Women & Girls right groups on Shadow Reporting and Follow up on Obligations in Relation to Human Rights Monitoring and Reporting Mechanisms on SGBV/VAWG/HP and promotion SRHR of women and girls.

Capacity Building of Key Stakeholders on Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) in the Federal Capital Territory and Capacity Building of Rule of Law Institutions on Litigation and Legal Responses to SGBV/VAWG/HP/SRHR.

The post CSJ Strengthens Institutions in Fight Against SGBV/VAWG/HP and SRHR appeared first on Centre for Social Justice .