In order to put an end to sexual and gender-based violence in Nigeria, the Lux Terra Leadership Foundation held a series of workshops for Christian Stakeholders on skills and tools for raising public awareness on the evil of all forms of sexual and gender-based violence, which kicked off on Tuesday, November 15, 2022. In his welcome address, Fr. George Ehusani, Executive Director, Lux Terra Leadership Foundation disclosed that the workshops are aimed at drawing up a variety of intervention strategies and mechanisms to achieve attitudinal, behaviour and culture change as well as individual and group action plans for policy advocacy towards the elimination of sexual and gender-based violence in the society. According to Fr. Ehusani, “Today in our country, many women, girls and an increasing number of vulnerable men and boys, are sexually violated, by the use of force in varying degrees, by psychological intimidation, by blackmail, by threats of physical harm, or in the form of barter, that is the demand for sex in exchange for employment, for grades in school, or for some other favours.”
He noted that in some cases, persons that are incapable of giving consent on account of age or mental incapacity, and even physically challenged persons, are sexually violated with devastating consequences. He added that thousands of underage and poor vulnerable girls are regularly trafficked and lured into the booming local and international sex trade or modern slavery by unscrupulous merchants, as the victims are sometimes put through unimaginable psychological trauma, such that they are often damaged for the rest of their lives. According to him, other forms of sexual and gender-based violence that have persisted in parts of Nigerian include child marriage, forced marriage or forced co-habitation, among other primitive and outrageous acts that violate natural justice and contradict in every way the Christian sense of human dignity, sanctity and inviolability. He said: “These acts of sexual and gender-based violence often prevent victims from enjoying their fundamental human rights and freedom and they have a significant impact on the physical, emotional and psychological health and wellbeing of the victims.
“They also constitute a major obstacle to the realization of Goal No. 5 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which pertain to the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in every society. “They lead to lower productivity among working women and higher dropout rates among school age girls. What is more, the wholesome functioning of families and the advancement of society in general are hampered by all these acts of sexual and gender based violence.” The workshops hosted by Lux Terra with the support of Ford Foundation had participants, including clerics and lay leaders of Christian Churches and institutions drawn from across the country. Present at the opening ceremony were Most Rev. Anselm Umoren, Auxiliary Bishop of Abuja, representatives of Dame Pauline Tallen, Minister of Women Affairs, among other distinguished invited guests. The programme also saw the training and equipping of 360 advocates for the “Elimination of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Nigeria,” over the next three years.
