SGBV: CWIDI Trains 50 Benue Adolescent Girls on Legal, Health Rights

From Dooshima Terkura, Makurdi

Over 50 adolescent girls and young women from Tarka Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State have been trained to advocate for their legal and health rights as part of efforts to mitigate the prevalence of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in the state.

The training was organized by the Concerned Women International Development Initiative (CWIDI) with support from the French Embassy Fund for Civil Society Organizations (FEF OSC). It was themed “Empowering Highly Vulnerable Adolescent Girls and Young Women with Legal and Health Rights Awareness.”
The participants, aged between 15 and 25 years and identified as highly vulnerable, took part in a two-day capacity-building workshop held in Wannune, Tarka LGA. The workshop was designed to equip them with knowledge of relevant human rights and legal frameworks, including provisions of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Law.
Speaking at the event, the Executive Director of CWIDI, Bridget Okeke, who was represented by the Programme Officer, Becky Gbihi, said the organization embarked on the project to educate and empower young women in rural communities with vital legal and health rights knowledge in order to reduce incidents of SGBV.
Gbihi maintained that when young women understand their rights, society becomes better, as they are more equipped with accurate information to share and create awareness among other girls.
Delivering a presentation on legal rights, the lead guest speaker and former Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Makurdi Branch, Barrister Justin Gbagir, stated that both males and females, irrespective of status, are equal before the law, stressing that no one is above the law.
Describing violations of women’s rights as worrisome in Nigeria, and Benue State in particular, Gbagir urged young girls to report cases of rights violations to the police or pursue justice through the courts, assuring them that justice would be served.
The second guest speaker, Dr. Dooter Christiana Mnena, identified stigmatization, fear, and other challenges as major reasons for the underreporting of SGBV cases. She noted, however, that a lack of knowledge of relevant laws and information on appropriate actions to take when violated remains a key issue. She expressed hope that the training would empower more young girls with the knowledge of what to do when their rights are infringed.
Some of the participants, Anaka Keziah and Nyesan Faith, who commended CWIDI for organizing the workshop, expressed joy and satisfaction, noting that they had learned a great deal from the training. They said the programme had equipped them with valuable knowledge as young women and pledged to cascade the information to their friends and other members of their families.