Civil Society Organisations Network Against Gender-Based Violence, GBV, in Zamfara State has expressed concern over the rising cases of GBV from 300 to over 600 cases and blamed the surge on the lack of implementation of Violence Against Person Prohibition, VAPP law and trial of perpetrators.
The CSO network stated this during their quarterly review meeting in Gusau, the state capital, where they called on the Zamfara State Government to establish the GBV Survivors Trust Fund to support victims to cope with the trauma and fighting the perpetrators.
Civil Society Organisations Network, with communities, religious groups, the Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC and the International Federation of Women Lawyers, FIDA, converged on Gusau to review their activities geared towards tackling Gender-Based Violence in the State.
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They noted that there was a compelling need to intensify awareness creation and strengthen the capacity of stakeholders to effectively and efficiently combat the menace, even as they also called on the Zamfara State Government to set up a mobile court to deal with GBV cases and implement the relevant laws.
Chairman of the Network, Hashim Ahmed identified insecurity as one of the factors responsible for the increase in the number of Gender-Based Violence and harped on a strong commitment of stakeholders in fighting the scourge in Zamfara State.
The Executive Director of Voluntary Aid Initiative, VAI, Musa Umar, and the State Coordinator of the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, Abdullahi Abubakar said that Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs are the most vulnerable to GBV, noting that there is tremendous improvement in the prosecution of perpetrators.
The Network called on the private sector to key into the fight against GBV through funding to stem the menace and urged development partners like International Alert to do more to build the capacity of the stakeholders to improve the fight and prosecute cases of GBV in Zamfara State.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
