WARDC demands accelerated justice for victims/survivors of gender-based violence in Lagos State

Owing to the rising cases of gender-based violence against women, the Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC) in collaboration with other women’s rights groups and stakeholders in Lagos state have called for accelerated response and justice for survivors of gender based violence in the state.

This call was made at a two-day capacity strengthening programme organised as part of the spotlight initiatives of the WARDC executed in conjunction with the European Union and UN women. The group noted that cases of gender-based violence have spiked because perpetrators were not punished accordingly. Victims had also refused to report for fear of being stigmatized and delayed justice. The group resolved that in order to change the narratives and end gender-based violence, the legal and justice systems would have to be reformed stressing that many of the laws against gender-based violence have not been implemented.

Hence, the stakeholders met to adopt the state action plan to end gender-based violence in Lagos state and also resolved to adopt the U.N’s model of multi-sectoral approach in handling GBV.

The model, which is based on inter-institutional partnership and cooperation would require a common philosophy for the partners involved. This multi-sectoral response to GBV they said, would lead to increased level safety and support for GBV victims/survivors. Hence Women’s Rights activists, Non-governmental organisations, civil societies were present at the meeting.

There would be organised trainings for social service workers to improve response capacity to victims. There would also be greater awareness for the public to reduce the risk of re-victimisation. The number of sexual assault referral centres in senatorial districts would also be increased.

A monitoring and evaluation system would be developed to ensure effective implementation of the state action plan.