A non-profit organisation, Women in Successful Career, says it is working towards raising a $25m trust fund for victims of gender-based violence.
The Executive Director of WISCAR, Amina Oyabola, who disclosed this on Saturday, said the trust fund would guarantee a safe place for victims of sexual.
Oyabobola spoke at the launch of 16 Days Activism Against Gender-Based Violence in Nigeria held in the Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State. A movie campaigning against gender-based violence, Chatroom, was screened at the event.
She said, “We are establishing a trust fund for a gender-based foundation and I am glad Sterling One is a part. We are trying to create more awareness about gender-based violence. It is a pandemic and a life-threatening issue. We have collaborated with Access Bank, MTN, Sterling One and the UN to curb this issue.
“The proposed budget is $25m and the money will be used to help victims of all kinds of abuse. The fund will be managed by UN Women. The program is about awareness, prevention and to prosecute the perpetrators of abuse in order to ensure that justice is served.”
Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer, of Sterling One Foundation, Olapeju ibekwe, said the movie “Chatroom” was screened to raise awareness of the different types of violence against women, the cultural norms that support it, and the supports available to victims.
“The movie serves as an opportunity and a platform to educate women all over the world about gender-based violence and to also encourage them to speak out and not keep their fears because it will only make things worse.”
She stressed the need for the public to embrace good morals in order to curb the rate of violence against women.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said the state government was focused on preventing sexual violence rather than providing post-care for victims.
He said, “What Lagos State government is trying to do is to pay more attention to the prevention of violation and abuse rather than the treatment.
“Rape is part of a society. The Lagos state government is currently building one of the biggest hospitals and some of the properties include 15 hectares of land and 500 rooms that will help to reduce and treat sexual violence victims.”
The Head of Public Enlightenment Unit, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, Fredrick Uche, urged the public to call NAPTIP’s hotline to report cases of human trafficking.
“NAPTIP is against rape. We have a programme called ANTIFAT. It is a program organised to educate people against violence and trafficking in person.
“We encourage people to open up. NAPTIP has a toll-free hotline, which is 627. Call the number if you notice anything suspicious in relation to trafficking.
The Chief Executive Officer, of Live Abundantly, Ama Onyerinma, stressed the need for the creative industry to reduce sexual content being disseminated to the public.
Ama said, “We are stakeholders who need to work together. It is essential schools and foundations work together to educate young ones. The more parents and children speak, the more relationship is built. We have to change our mentality and also collaborate with the government.
“We need to be careful about the content we put out because some content sexualise both genders. The rate of sexual content is high in the creative industry.”
