The Delta Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Peter Mrakpor has said about 134 sexual based offence cases were pending at the various high courts in the state, saying “there is growing problem of sexual and gender based violence in Delta.”
The Attorney General stated this in Asaba on Monday during sexual and gender based violence awareness stakeholders’ conference organised by the Delta state sexual and gender based violence referral team and 05 Initiative Foundation.
Mrakpor said over 17 cases are ready for filing while the state had obtained 8 favourable judgements in 2019.
According to him, “There is a growing problem of sexual and gender based violence across the state, of which over fifty percent are underreported”.
“What is more alarming is the reported cases settled in and out of the police station without conclusive investigation and prosecution and this occurs daily due to ignorance, poverty, intimidation, stiggmisation, and poor/unprofessional handling of such cases by the police and other government agencies “.
He highlighted some of the problems confronting the sexual and gender based violence to include, “Cost of medical and forensic examination of survivors which often times are out of the reach of the survivors and their parents/guardians.”
Others are fundamental issue the team is billed to tackle is the cost of litigations and long period of legal process in court before Justice is obtained and fact that victims are made to attend court now and then exposing them to ridicule and moral degradation.
