Human Rights Advocacy Group Wants Parents, Guardians Committed To Ending SGBV

MINNA – Niger State Coordinator of the National Human Rights Com­mission (NHRC), Alhaji Nuhu Mohammed, has made a case for parents and guardians to step up actions against rising cases of Sexual and Gender Based Vi­olence (SGBV), especially among rural dwellers.

Traces of SGBV are common even among adolescents below the age of 15, he said, adding that the only way to correct the moral disorder is for parents to evolve strategies even if that would require close monitoring of what their wards do in their lonely spaces.

Speaking to journalists shortly after a one day ‘Street Bomb’ road walk campaign against SGBV, Nuhu, who dou­bles as the Principal Coordina­tor for the Dorothy Njemanze Foundation (DNF), explained efforts made to check the men­ace in Nasarawa, Niger and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

The Paralegal Network or Legal Assistant of DNF under his leadership, he said, also paid advocacy visits to the leadership of Christian Association of Ni­geria (CAN) and traditional in­stitutions in Niger state to drum up support for activities aimed at curtailing sex and sexuality related assaults.

SGBV is not only affecting adults but also children who are under-aged or in the form of forced marriages, it can also happen among secondary school boys and girls, and these things sometimes come with life threat­ening damages affecting the vic­tims psychologically.

Apart from the trauma, the victims who are often withdrawn finds it difficult to adapt or rein­tegrated into the larger society or even get over the experience over time and that is why the need for joint efforts to fight against SGBV.