Lawyers Launch Campaign Against SGBV In Benue

A non- governmental organisation under the aegis of Lawyers Alert has launched a hashtag campaign on Sexual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV) in Benue State aimed at creating awareness and seeking redress for survivors and victims of sexual abuses.

This is even as the programme director, Lawyers Alert, Ms Jerome Uneje disclosed that SGBV report of the 2021 indicates that in Nigeria SGBV is on the increase, adding that violence against  women and girls account for 37 per cent, with Benue State having the incident rate of 25 per cent.

Uneje explained that the hashtag campaign is to help draw government attention and support for the implementation of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) & the Administration of Criminal Justice (ACJ) Laws in six states of the Federation which include Bauchi, Benue, Enugu, Kaduna, Osun and FCT towards speedy justice service delivery.

The group lamented a situation where reported cases of SGBV to authorities takes the duration of 5 to 10 years and at the end, perpetrators are set free.

She lamented a situation where only few people are aware of the laws and appealed for all hands to be on deck to ensure the effective implementation of the laws so as to resolve SGBV cases.

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She said,  “Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) and the Administration of Criminal Justice (ACJ) Laws which is  to provide redress for survivors and victims of SGBV who are mostly the poor and vulnerable women and girls are yet to be implemented and we are out to push for its implementation”

“Having identify this gap, Lawyers Alert and her cluster members with the support of USAID, SCALE have taken this awareness to the grassroots in the above states and as well engage the media for effective delivery of the project mandate.”

Earlier, the chairman, National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Benue State chapter, Elizabeth Achagh decried the high increase in SGBV cases in the state, even as she urged the judiciary, government at all level and the National Assembly to do all they can to ensure the protection of the vulnerable.