Lagos State govt tasks community leaders on promotion of positive masculinity
Says it is critical to tackling domestic, sexual violence
Lagos State Government has tasked community leaders to promote positive masculinity in their domains as part of efforts to proactively educate residents, especially men on issues that pertain to sexual and gender base violence.
Executive Secretary, Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA), Mrs. Titilola Viviour-Adeniyi, said this, yesterday, at a sensitisation campaign dubbed “It’s On Us’’ programme, and tagged: “Men Wey Sabi,’’ targeted mainly at members and executives of Community Development Committees (CDCs) and Community Development Associations (CDAs) across 20 local councils in the state.
She added that 400 CDC leaders drawn from the 20 local councils would be trained.
Viviour-Adeniyi said that already, 18 local councils had been reached with two more councils to be reached in the agency’s campaign against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV).
According to her, there is need to train the CDC leaders, as they are closer to the community members and will help to the point of tackling domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.
“Sexual and gender-based violence is not a respecter of class, age or local council. It is happening across the state. So, what we are trying to do is to engage these community leaders in the councils on these issues,” she said.
She said that men should not use their role or strength to abuse other gender, but rather should protect the female.
Meanwhile, delivering his topic on Positive Masculinity (Understanding and Respecting Female Gender), Mr. Kingsley Obom-Egbulem, Talent Manager, said that it was important to train men on solutions to SGBV.
Obom-Egbulem said that if men were part of the problem, it was only normal that they become part of the solution.
He said that the men-folk needed to be educated, and have some understanding that women should be respected.
On his part, Teenage Career Development Expert, Mr. Kazeem Olaonipekun, said that both the husband and wife had complementary roles to play to ensure that the society is rid of sexual and gender-based violence.
Olaonipekun said that both the male and female had strengths and weaknesses and these were bound to manifest. So, both of them should work on the strength and weaknesses.
According to him, the husband should recognise the strength of the woman and capitalise on it for the betterment of the home.
He said that being the head, as a man, does not mean that the man is superior to the woman.
