The Director, Centre for Population and Reproductive Health, Prof. Oladosu Ojengbede, has called for collaborative efforts at eliminating Gender-Based Violence, GBV.
He made the call while speaking at the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls organised by the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists, NAWOJ, Oyo State chapter, stating that at least 200 million women and girls worldwide were victims of GBV .
Ojengbede in his paper stressed that additional three million women and girls undergo it annually worldwide while Nigeria had the world highest Female Genital Mutilation, FGM.
He pointed out that in Nigeria, 25 per cent or 19.9 million Nigerian girls and women of 15 to 49 years old were subjected to Female Genital Mutilation between 2004 and 2015 with the Southern part of the country having the prevalence.
He stressed that considering the negative impacts of GBV especially FGM to the women and girls, the time had come to eliminate it worldwide through global strategy through community mobilisation, education, creating awareness and platform for training of health care professional against change, manage complications to save life as well as manage the psychological and sexual complications.
He gave other possible ways as through legal reform, review of national laws, regulations of policies, procedures and practices including traditional and cultural practices.
The Executive Director, HACEY Health Initiative in Nigeria, Ms Rhoda Robinson, in her own presentation, disclosed that over 20 million women and girls in Nigeria were subjected to Female Genital Mutilation, maintaining that there was urgent need to eradicate GBV especially FGM in the society considering its negative effects on women and girls.
The Oyo State NAWOJ chairperson, Comrade Jadesola Ajibola, while welcoming participants, emphasised that the association was committed to fighting against GBV as well as ensuring other forms of violence against women and the girls are eliminated.
“We must talk the talk, we must end violence against women. We must come to liberate our society and save the country from going down. We have a responsibility. How and what do you do to a Nigerian girl child. It is no longer business as usual,” she said.
Ajibola maintained that Oyo NAWOJ under her leadership would be more committed and focused in the fight against rape and other forms of violence of women and girls.
