CEWHIN holds town hall meeting on SGBV in Ojo

As part of its community awareness creation on strengthening existing VAWG/SGBV prevention and response structure for women and girls with disabilities, the Centre for Women’s Health and Information (CEWHIN) has held a town hall meeting in Ojo Local Government area of Lagos State to educate the people and ultimately reduce the challenges of SGBV in the area.

One of the participants, Caroline Ibeh Esq, who is the Vice Chairperson of International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Badagry chapter, said: “SGBV cases in Ojo and Alimosho local governments are terrible. I sit every Thursday in Lagos State University and I know what I go through.

“This training by CEWHIN would help to spread the campaign against SGBV. The participants will go and tell others. So many of them were asking questions about rape. They didn’t know and if they knew they didn’t know the implication. Now they are aware.

Another participant, Superior Evangelist Mathias Sefon said he learnt a lot of things during the meeting. “I have always heard about domestic violence but I did know it’s this wide. The explanation is very detailed and I will take it home and let the people at home know that when we are talking about domestic violence it is not only one thing. It could be physical violence, emotional violence, sexual, economic and so on. Right from my church, I will let the members know about what we have been taught here today and the penalties that await perpetrators.

One of the facilitators, Precious Eberechukwu spoke on the overview of gender based violence and its impact on community members, women and other vulnerable populations. She said: “The participants learnt how to respond to issues of gender based violence around them, and the reporting channels. We have empowered them to know their rights and different referral pathways in Lagos State that address issues of gender based violence.”

Elated by the success of the meeting, the Programme officer of CEWHIN, Pamela Stephen said: “We need to see people with disabilities as human beings. They are not abnormal. They have rights like everyone else. It is the duty of everyone to make sure we live in a world that is devoid of sexual and gender based violence on women and girls especially women and girls with disability.”