LASG Assures Of Speedy Trial Of Gender Based Violence Cases

Lagos State government has reassured citizens of speedy delivery and management of cases involving Gender-Based Violence in the state.

The government through the State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, (DSVA) gave the assurance at the launch of the case conference meeting and onboarding of relevant responder agencies of the Lagos Stare Domestic and Sexual Violence Case Management System, (DSVCMS).

Speaking at the launch of the case conferencing training, the Executive Secretary of Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, DSVA, Ms.Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi explained that the need becomes imperative to upscale the way cases of sexual and gender based violence is being handled and managed manually.

Vivour-Adeniyi said the meeting was organised to introduce technology to fast track attention to cases and make swift necessary referrals to responder agencies, thereby optimising the operational efficiency of the whole process.

She maintained that the era of reporting cases through social media is gradually fading out as the state is embracing a structured approach in digitising case management in order to protect and ensure that the confidentiality of the process is not compromised.

She said, “From the filling of complaint forms, to printing referral letters to other referral/responder agencies, to dispatching letters, following up cases and other related manual processes. This therefore slows down the process of providing services, especially as Sexual and Gender Based Violence responders are duty bound to respond to incidents timeously.

“The 2020 COVID pandemic with all the challenges that it brought, also presented an opportunity for service providers and the state to look inwardly, identify the lacunas in the system and re-strategize on ways to enhance our service delivery.

One of the resource persons at the conference, Dr. Abimbola Folami explained further on the components of the conference and how it is designed to achieve effective delivery of cases on Domestic and Sexual Violence in Lagos.

Folami, an Assistant Reproductive officer Lagos State Primary Health Care Board added that the whole idea is to reduce the cumbersome operational paperwork and ensure quick response to cases by the critical stakeholders.

According to her “It is a new electronic tool for capturing data for cases involving Sexual and Domestic Violence in Lagos State. The essence is to lessen the burden of paper work and also to ensure a faster response.

In her remark, A Reproductive Health Coordinator Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Victoria Omoera maintained that adequate data is key to identify basic social economic factors and adequate information about a case will make its implementation seamless and faster.

Omoera noted that inculcation of electronic tools would allow for proper documentation and will assist stakeholders and Lagos state to activate a response system that is effective and efficient.