Stakeholders Raise Alarm Over Growing Cases Of Violence Against Women, Girls In Osun State

Stakeholders have warned of consequences of growing cases of violence against girls and women in Osun State.

They advocated the full implementation of Violence against women and girls prohibition law of Osun State to stem the trend.

Also, in a bid to prevent further harm to victims of VAWG, media practitioners were charged to embrace ethical practices when reporting issues related to Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).

The stakeholders that consisted, traditional rulers, religious leaders, media practitioners, law enforcement agents, human rights activists unanimously condemned the menace and called for concerted efforts to curb the act.

Speaking at a workshop organized by the Center for Women’s Health and Information (CEWHIN), in Osogbo recently, CEWHIN Executive Director, Atinuke Odukoya lamented the frequency of violence against girls and women in the state.

She highlighted the media role as a powerful agenda-setter and mindset shaper and charged them to use their platforms to build a culture where violence is neither normalized nor tolerated.

In his keynote address, the special adviser to Osun governor on Public Communication, Mr. Olusola Ajala said everybody has a role to play towards putting an end to VAWG.

He said, “We must get to a point where the society will say, ‘We don’t do this here’ adding that’ the moment the society frowns at perpetrators, it becomes aberration.”

He noted that arbitrary sensationalising of violence stories by media practitioners especially as it affects girls and women for whatever reason will have negative impact on the victim, send wrong signals to the society and eventually have negative consequences on the medium of communication.

In her contribution, a media practitioner, Bisola Ariwodola stressed the need to domesticate the violence against women and girls prohibition law to make it more effective and also protect victims from stigmatisation.