President Muhammadu Buhari has once again called for an end to violence against women and children in the country and around the world.

In solidarity with Nigerian women and children, President Buhari said the country has made a lot of progress in the fight against gender-based violence.

“I stand in solidarity with all the women and children in Nigeria and around the world and say no to violence against women and children,” he said in a message during the UN Spotlight Initiative Town Hall on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Nigeria.

“A lot of good progress has been made in the past few months. We have established an inter-ministerial management committee on the eradication of gender-based violence in the country.

“Many states in the country have passed laws promoting access to justice for women and children and services are being improved to support survivors of violence.

While commending the Ministry of Women Affairs, and the Ministry of Justice, lawmakers, Nigerian governors, and the Police Force for their “plans to ensure the creation of a national action plan to combat violence against women and girls,” he admitted that violence against children and women has consequences.

“Gender violence has consequences, not only for the victims and their families but on the community and the country at large,” he said.

“Preventing violence against women can save lives and prevent human suffering.”

According to Buhari, men also have a role to play in building a safer society for women and children and should recognize the role of women in the development of the economy and the country.

“A lot still needs to be done and I call on all our men and boys to help us in achieving our goal of creating a society that is free from domestic violence, rape and all other forms of violence against women and children,” Buhari added.

Minister for Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen, says cases of rape and other forms of violence against women are under-reported.

“For every one reported cases of Gender-Based Violence, 10 are not reported,” she said while faulting statistics on GBV,” said Tallen who was a guest on the UN Spotlight Initiative Town Hall on Violence Against Women on Tuesday.

“I am happy that the last speaker you just interviewed on the street confirmed that some communities try to suppress and stop people from reporting Gender-Based Violence.”

The Minister called for an end to the rising cases of rape and other forms of violence against women and girls in the country.

While condemning the act, she declared that further violent cases were unacceptable.

She, therefore, encouraged Nigerians and other forms of victims to speak out in order to end the scourge of violence against the female folks.

According to the Minister, perpetrators of violence against women should be named and shamed to serve as a deterrent to others.

“All hands must be on deck. People must come out and speak, support, and encourage victims. It is the perpetrators that should be shamed.

“That is where I will commend the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, Governor Fayemi is one of the first governors that launched the Sex Offenders Register in his state,” she said.

The Minister reiterated the commitment of the Federal Government in ending the GBV in the country, thereby calling on states to emulate both Ekiti and Lagos in opening the Sex offenders Register.

She believes doing that will bring suspected rapists to book and stop the ugly trend of rape and other violent cases in the country.

Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed says all persons must refuse to accept the conditions that make violence against women and girls possible.

The UN top official made the remarks in a pre-recorded video broadcast on Tuesday during a Spotlight Initiative townhall.

The Spotlight Initiative, a new, global, multi-year initiative from the European Union (EU) and the UN, is determined to eliminate all forms of such violence against women and girls (VAWG).

“Around the world, violence against women and girls, especially rape is skyrocketing,” Mohammed said. “Many incidents have triggered widespread outrage. Yet some keep trying to play the oldest game in the book; the blame game. Blame the COVID-19 pandemic, blame social and economic stress, blame uncertainty. Even outrageously, blame the victim – usually a woman or, worse still, a girl. Blame anything, everything but the perpetrator.

“Let’s be really clear, sexual violence and any form of violence is violence. There is absolutely no excuse, there is no justification and there must be zero tolerance. All of us must stand together and speak out.”

The former Nigerian Minister of Environment called for more persons to support the Spotlight Initiative, which is designed to “bring focused attention to the issue, moving it into the spotlight and placing it at the centre of efforts to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

Below is an excerpt from Mohammed’s speech at the town hall meeting:

I am the proud mother of four daughters, but the loudest voices urging me to speak up came from my sons and they said, ‘Mom, this is already a dangerous issue – it is in our chat spaces; you need to do something about it, people will listen.

I am not sure people will listen but if I can make a difference in one woman’s life, then it is worth speaking about it.

When I asked what they were hearing, they said it varies. Some say violent is not right, but others, appallingly, say women asked for it. Really? You and I know that men and boys who commit violence against women and girls are just simply not men. They are weak, it’s shameful. They are, sadly, the textbook definition of a coward.

And for those who turn a blind eye or deaf ears saying it is a private matter, know that you too are accomplices to violence. Now, we can agree to disagree, but because of these attitudes, women and girls face a clear and present danger of the threat of violence and rape every day at home, in school and, these days, online. Men and boys, fathers and sons, husbands, we must have this conversation. Take responsibility, speak up. Stand with women and girls.

Let’s join hands with survivors of violence including rape. Listen to their stories. Let’s call out victim blaming and shaming. Let’s rally our communities to say ‘No’ to gender-based violence. Let’s remember that if not for a woman, and her nine months of labour, I am not sure that you men will be here today.

So, let’s stand with our mothers, our sisters, our daughters, our partners and, together, let’s declare in one voice, I am with her’.

A rape survivor in Nigeria on Tuesday shared a shocking tale of how she was raped for years by a man she thought was her father.

Fatima Ada Isiaku was first sexually abused at the age of five. Her stepfather started off her nightmare by using his fingers on her.

“At the age of seven, the abuse became worse. I was a sex slave for complete seven years under my mother’s nose without her knowing that I was being abused,” she said during the UN Spotlight Initiative Town Hall on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Nigeria.

Her attempts to get help failed as her mother, the person she went to would not believe her.

She endured the abuse and worse for years more, all the while believing her rapist to be her father.

“So, I thought he was my dad; I never knew he was not my dad. It was at the age of 14 that my mum found out (and) she revealed to me that he was not my dad,” she said.

After years of trying to convince her mother to believe her, it took another humiliation before the truth came out. Her mother subjected her to a crude virginity test.

After returning home, to the military barracks where they lived at the time, she found herself received coldly by her mom.

“When I came back from school, my younger ones greeted her, I greeted her; she responded to them but she did not respond to me. She said to me, ‘You stand in the corner’ and she told my younger ones to go inside and not come out. She told me to stand aside.

“So, she poured the water into me and the water went in. She then shouted, ‘So, you are not a virgin?’ 

At that time, at the age of 14, Fatima had not received any sex education and had no clue what the word ‘virgin’ meant.

“I said, ‘so, who is a virgin?’ and she said, ‘a man has been going through you’. And I told her it was my father,” she shared during the show.

It had taken Fatima so long to get her mother to hear and believe her because, according to her, her stepfather did not only make her a sex slave, he successfully ran a campaign to discredit her and turn her mom against her.

An EU, UN Initiative

The Spotlight Initiative is a new, global, multi-year initiative from the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN).

The Initiative aim is to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG).

According to the United Nations, “violence against women and girls is one of the most widespread, persistent and devastating human rights violations in our world today.”

The Spotlight Initiative aims to bring focused attention to this issue, moving it into the spotlight and placing it at the centre of efforts to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

An initial investment in the order of EUR 500 million has been made, with the EU as the main contributor.