The Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) has raised concern over rising cases of gender-based violence (GBV) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), urging victims and witnesses to speak out and seek help.

The council also disclosed that it recently rescued a girl who was trafficked from Benue State to Abuja under the guise of employment and subsequently forced into prostitution.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja at the weekend, the Special Adviser on Women Affairs to the AMAC Chairman, Hon. Loveth Izekor, said GBV was not limited to rural communities, stressing that women and girls in the FCT were also exposed to various forms of abuse.

Izekor, who spoke on the theme, “Unite to Protect: Empowering AMAC Women Through Knowledge and Action,” said one of the major challenges in tackling GBV was that many victims did not recognise that they were being abused.

She said societal expectations, stigma and fear of judgment had also discouraged victims from speaking out or seeking assistance.

“Most people don’t even know they have been abused. They don’t even know they are victims of such circumstances. They feel like, okay, it is right; what this person is doing to me, what my husband or whoever is doing to me, what this woman is doing to that child is right, is disciplining the child and all that,” she said.

According to her, the normalisation of abusive behaviour had made it difficult for some victims to identify harmful situations and seek intervention.

“There are so many barriers. Even society, I think, the shame of even coming out to speak or seek help,” she said.

Giving an insight into cases that had come to her attention since she assumed office about three months ago, Izekor said her office recently intervened in the case of a girl who was brought to Abuja from Benue State purportedly to secure employment.

“Getting here, she realised that it just was not work. Unfortunately for her, she was brought here for prostitution. And she fled from the place seeking help,” she said.

Izekor said the case highlighted the need for stronger community-level awareness and intervention to protect women and girls from trafficking and other forms of abuse.

“This is happening in FCT. A lot of these cases are happening,” she said.

She said some of the cases brought to her office had been critical, prompting the council to strengthen its efforts to protect women and girls and improve access to support services.

Izekor said AMAC’s 12 wards covered a wide range of communities beyond the city centre, making it necessary to take sensitisation programmes directly to residents at the grassroots.

She said: “Abuja Municipal Area Council is a very big area council. With communities in Karshi, Kuje, Bwari, Orozo, so many communities; it is not limited to the city centre alone.

“We have a lot of work to do. We have women, we have communities to understand more, to know their rights more, to understand more what gender-based violence is, so that we can stand united to address such matters.”

The council, she said, had also unveiled an emergency intervention helpline to enable residents to report cases, request urgent intervention and access appropriate security, legal, healthcare and other support services.

Izekor urged women to create safe spaces where victims could seek help without fear, while calling on residents who witnessed abuse to report such cases.

She said the campaign would involve traditional rulers, royal mothers, ward and community coordinators, councillors’ wives and women leaders, who would work with the council to take sensitisation and orientation programmes to communities.

“As women, we also need to come together and stand united against gender-based violence, and also educate our younger ones, the girl child, to know their rights as females, to know when to speak up, to know when to say no and all that,” she said.

The Special Adviser also called on traditional and religious leaders to use their influence to promote the dignity and protection of women and girls.

She said the council was still working to understand the scale of GBV in its communities, urging residents not to ignore cases of abuse or wait until they became critical before seeking help.