Ogun First Lady Stresses Collaboration of Stakeholders to Mitigate Gender Based Violence

Ogun State government has reiterated its determination to mitigate gender based violence while emphasizing stakeholders collaboration for a safer society.

Wife of Ogun State Governor, Mrs Bamidele Abiodun stressed this at the screening of the chatroom movie for students and technical staff in secondary schools and tertiary institutions across the state, organized by the Office of the First Lady in conjunction with Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the United Nations Population Funds (UNFPA) and Sterling One Foundation held at the Cinema hall of the June 12, cultural center, kuto, Abeokuta.

The First Lady, represented by the wife of the Speaker, Ogun State House of Assembly, Mrs. Bolanle Oluomo said gender based violence was a human tragedy that had been affecting individuals and the society at large hence the need for collective action against it to achieve the desired change. 

She further stated that the Ogun state government had made strides to fight the menace through the Ogun state Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law and the Sexual Assault Referral Center(SARC) calling on other government agencies and  organizations for their active participation at eradicating the vice.

Contributing, wife of the Secretary to the state government, Mrs. Derinola Talabi appreciated the staff of the SARC center, UNFPA and Sterling One Foundation for their support and effort at combatting GBV charging the participating  students and technical staff of schools to stay positive and speak out while eschewing shyness in cases of abuses and violence.

The Gender Reproductive Health Analyst, United Nations Population Funds (UNFPA), Dr. Esther Somefun while acknowledging the prevalence of GBV,  commended the determination of the Ogun State government to stamp it out by it's continued awareness and sensitization of pupils and students across schools in Ogun state.

In her remark, the representative of Sterling One Foundation, Mrs. Olaleju Ibekwe, said Ogun state was the 7th state to benefit from the screening of the chatroom movie adding that the Foundation and other organizations in the private sector would continue to support fight against GBV with funding and advocacy while urging government at all levels to assist with policies that would complement all the efforts towards a better society.

To underscore the event, an illustrative movie on gender based violence was shown, to which the students expressed joy at the information it provided particularly on the need to speak out.