NAN-H-25
Girls
By Mateen Badru
Lagos, Jan 18, 2018 (NAN) About 200 school girls in Lagos have been mobilised for training on the prevention of gender-based violence and abuse in secondary schools in the state.
The project, targeted primarily at secondary school girls between the ages of 13 and 16 years, was initiated by Women at Risk International Foundation (WARIF), an NGO, in partnership with Diamond Bank.
Dr Kemi DaSilva-Ibru, WARIF Chief Executive, said in a statement that training tools and learning processes were inculcated into the school curriculum to educate and re-orientate the pupils against gender-based violence and abuse.
“Girls will learn to speak up and say no to any form of abuse. Boys will be thought likewise but more importantly, to be shields and protectors of girls instead of been abusers or enablers.
“Boys will learn to respect girls from that age and girls will be taught likewise; to love and value themselves as equals with their male counterparts,’’ she said.
According to DaSilva-Ibru, trained WARIF facilitators will be educating and working with the children in a focus group/learning setting to enable the children open up and be free.
She said that the project was carried out under WARIF Educational School Programme (WESP), a preventive initiative against the prevalence of sexual assault and rape cases among secondary school children in Lagos State
“We are extremely excited about our recent partnership with Diamond Bank. With their support and sponsorship, we are going back to schools in Lagos State and will expand WESP to include an additional number of affected adolescent school children.
“This will provide the necessary tool-kit that is vital in educating and re-orienting the mind set of our future generation of young men and women and will put an end to gender-based violence in our society,” she said.
Diamond Bank spokesperson, Chioma Afe, said that the partnership with WARIF was an opportunity to re-orientate and educate women and young students on issues around gender-based violence.
“Women’s health and wellbeing form core part of the bank’s approach toward corporate sustainability and WARIF’s efforts provide a good platform through which to empower not only Nigerian women but the younger generation,” said the Diamond Bank official.
She said that the initiative would help in reducing the incidences of violence against women and girls in Nigeria.
WARIF was incorporated in 2016 in response to the high incidence of sexual assault, rape and human trafficking occurring among young girls and women across Nigeria.
The Foundation says its sexual assault referral centre in Yaba, Lagos has so far treated and offered free medical care, counselling, shelter, legal aid and 24-hour confidential helpline to 446 young girls and women in need. (NAN)
BOM/WOJ
(Edited by Wale Ojetimi)