Chairperson of Northern Governors Wives Forum, and Wife of Kaduna state Governor, Arch. Hadiza el-Rufai, has donated cash relief to survivors of Gender Based Violence (GBV) in the state.
She assured that the GBV battle must be won.
The governor’s wife, while receiving some of the survivors at the Government House in Kaduna on Tuesday, said one of the best ways to tackle the scourge of GBV is education and financial empowerment of the women folk.
She said when women are educated and empowered, they will be financially independent of their abusers, hence the resolve of the Governors Wives Forum to give some of the survivors cash relief.
According to her, “the problem of Gender Based Violence is enormous, therefore the battle against it must not be taken lightly, it is a battle that must be fought and won. So, we must stand firm against it. Gender Based Violence is though a global problem, it is worse here because of some cultural beliefs, but we will continue to do our best. We will continue to fight for the rights of women.
“Today, we have certain fund that we want to give to survivors of Gender Based Violence. We know the money cannot take away your pains or make you forget the pains, but we believe it will cushion the effects of your suffering and make you financially independent of your abusers. We are doing this because we know when women have some kind of financial independence, it will help, because some women even go back to their abusers because there is nothing they can do.
“This is why it is important for us to educate our women and give those that cannot be educated, some means of earning their own livelihood.”
Hadiza however, presented cash donation of N100,000 to each of the GBV survivors, among whom is young Safiya suffering from Down Syndrome, who was raped severally and impregnated by a relative of her step father.
Young Aisha, another survivor, was beaten to a pulp and her arm broken by a teacher at school.
There was a housewife, whose lips were chopped off with teeth, by a male relative over inherited farm land.
Kaduna state Commissioner for Human Services and Social Development, Hajiya Hafsat Mohammed Baba, expressed appreciation to the governor’s wife for the support, while urging the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the money given to them to enable them become financially independent.
