Stories by Ene Osang
Abuja
The need to end all forms of violence against children and women has been reiterated as Nigerians joined the rest of the world in the 16 days of activism against violence.
Chairman, Advisory Board of Educating Nigerian Girls in New Enterprise (ENGINE) in Abuja, Amina Salihu, said violence is a very serious concern which is not only killing girls and women but diminishes their opportunities in life.
According to Salihu, 1 in 3 women experience physical or emotional violence in the country, while expressing displeasure that victims are silent about it.
She maintained that girls are very important in the society because without them there won’t be women who also play important role in nation building, she therefore urged citizens to make it a point of duty to speak against violence of any form.
“Violence is eating up our society and we are not only concerned about girls but boys too because they are being raped as well only that girls face this more, we are concerned about people with disabilities and other vulnerable persons in the society.
“Imagine a girl who is raped, imagine a women who is beaten all the times, imagine what our girls and women are going through in the Internally Displaced Camps (IDPs), at work places, and even in their homes by people who are supposed to protect them.
She said further that the #walkof100men was deliberately led by men to create the awareness for other men to see that it is okay for men to support women too.
“We are having this walk because many girls face violence in our society today violence happens all the time and people are silent about it even though its an evil we need to speak out because violence is killing the potentials in girls.
“Violence is now a tragedy in our society because even the men face violence, when men want to be good they are good and even those who are good are abused by the society as soft and that is violence, it is important we teach our boys to know that good and real boys respect girls and they will grow into responsible men who respect women,”she said.
“The #walkof100men is held to create more awareness by the men themselves to shun violence because the men must know that where there is love and understanding things work better than where there is strife and hate.
“The men are encouraged to do the campaign to send the message that it is okay to assist in the house and to support their wives just as the wives support them so that we can create a generation of responsible adults filled with love and respect for each other, “she added.
Also speaking the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Women Trust Fund Olufunke Baruwa, maintained that the campaign was done by the men who themselves so as to encourage other men to shun violence.
“We have been addressing the issue of violence against children the wrong way yes we have been asking women to say no to violence by talking about it but it’s not working because it has continued so now we want the men to talk the talk and head the campaign to say they stand against violence.
“Violence level is bad it’s an epidemic, the number of women who face violence in the homes work places relatives and even people unknown to them,” she said.
It would be recalled that the match is to commemorate the 16days of activism against violence to reiterate the call to stop it and protect the society and vulnerable women and girls. The 16 days runs yearly as set up by the United Nations.
