While over 603 million females are living in
environment where domestic violence is not yet a crime in world, more than 10,000
female children abused every day in Nigeria alone.
The founder of the We Rise Initiative (WRI), a
non-governmental organisation empowering women and girls to rise above systemic
oppression and the stigmatisation of feminism, Ms. Laila Johnson-Salami,
disclosed this in Lagos on Sunday.
Johnson-Salami said studies have shown that almost one in
every three women or girls has been abused one way or the other, mostly by
people close to them. Also, one in every eight boys is also victim of such
abuses.
She lamented that most of these abuses come in form of rape
from which the victims were forced not to disclose it because it is seen as a
taboo.
According to her, the situation is even made worse by the
fact that laws in the country also discriminate against the victims.
Johnson-Salami said: "The biggest problem is
that even when the abuses are reported, the police who are to take action on
the issues do not know what to do."
She disclosed that surprisingly, most of the
traffickers of abused victims are women themselves, stressing that it was for
this reason that many of the abusers get way with their crimes.
Johnson-Salami said in the 21st century Nigeria,
the law against rape does not even apply to male victims as it is assumed that
you cannot rape a boy. "That is why we must speak up. This cannot be
allowed to continue.
"Every year, the United Nations holds a 16 day
campaign against gender-based violence, encouraging people to take a stand
against gender-based abuse and (WRI) has contributed to this with a viral campaign,"
she added.
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