• ‘126 SGBV cases pending in FCT courts’
Chairman, Bwari Area Council, John Gabaya, yesterday, warned residents of the council to stop molesting their househelps, affirming it is punishable under the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPPA).
He gave the warning at a Stakeholders’ Community Advocacy Dialogue on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), at Council Headquarters, Bwari, Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Represented by Head of Administration, Amina Solomon, he said the presence of NAPTIP’s protection officers in the area council provides access to quick reporting of SGBV cases without fear because confidentiality is fully assured.
“I know that in days past, issues of sexual assault and molestation were difficult to report. But today, we have a channel, a place that people can easily report these cases to,” she said.
She commended NAPTIP’s campaign against SGBV, saying it has really changed the landscape in the fight against sexual and gender-based violence in the FCT.
Speaking on the need to avoid settlement of sexual assault and incest cases at community level, Director General of NAPTIP, Prof. Fatima Waziri-Azi, said such are strictly court matters. She said they are seen as grievous state offences, and settling them at community level amounts to injustice for the victims.
She admonished parents and community members not to dismiss their children and wards when they report SGBV cases to them because this could make a child lose confidence in the parents.
She said: “Always believe your children when they report molestation or rape cases to you. Believe them, don’t call them liars.
Most of the victims in our shelter will tell you that they reported to their parents but no one believed them.”
