By Adekunle Famuyiwa
In a bid to
protect the right of vulnerable victims, the Clinic for Human Rights, Obafemi
Awolowo University, Ile-Ife has called for an end to Gender-Based
Violence in Ile-Ife and its environs. The organization's commitment is
prominently highlighted through its initiation of a 16-day activism campaign, upholding
the International Human Rights Day on December 10, 2023.
The campaign began through an awareness reach and research
aggregate on Gender-Based Violence in some locations on the Obafemi Awolowo
University campus. The poll was intended to ascertain the level of students’
awareness about Gender-Based Violence, while offering them insight on how to
handle related cases.
The grand finale of the Clinic’s campaign culminated in
grassroots advocacy against Gender-Based Violence at Aba-Gboro community, an
adjoining settlement of Obafemi Awolowo University. The goal of the community
engagement was to orientate the locals on the diverse forms that Gender-Based
Violence demonstrates itself in a demography like theirs, and more importantly,
how to seek redress for such human rights violations against women and girls.
Topical issues during the interaction between the Clinic’s
delegation and the locals include sex education for children at an early age,
stigmatization of victims of sexual violence, the need for parent-child
intimacy which aids speaking up, and punishment for perpetrators of
Gender-Based Violence. Some of the indigenous women were also asked pertinent
questions which were adequately thrashed out. The Clinic’s contact lines were
subsequently conveyed to the locals, to ensure the proper handling of any
future cases of Gender-Based Violence.
My advice and emphasis would be for people to speak up
whenever they are victims of any forms of Gender-Based Violence. There are
cases of GBV all around us, but sadly, victims are usually suppressed and
barely speak up. Speaking up gives a chance for the law to take its course in
due punishment of offenders. This serves a good deterrence effect; which is
quite impossible if perpetrators keep walking free.”