The Christian Council of Nigeria (CCN) has embarked on a week-long sensitisation against child molestation and other cases of Gender Based Violence (GBV) against women and girls in Sokoto State.
The National President of CCN, Most Rev. Benebo Fubara-Manuel, while inaugurating the exercise on Tuesday in Sokoto, noted that schools, institutions, policy makers and other public gatherings were targeted.
Fubara-Manuel explained that the sensitisation was in collaboration with the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative Project, aimed at ending all forms of
Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).
He appealed to the federal and state governments to redouble efforts toward safeguarding the nation against all forms of violence that was
mitigating growth and development.
The NCC president said “we recognise that violence has taken an aggressive form in many facets of our society in recent times due to the increasing rate of unemployment of many young people.
“Poverty in many homes has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The inter-tribal and communal clashes in many regions of the country, the menace of kidnapping and mindless brutalisation and killings combine to bring undue sufferings to the masses, including women and girls.
“CCN is convinced that ending violence against women and girls is possible. We believe that our Churches and faith-based organisations have been part of the problem and, as such, should be part of the solutions.”
According to him, there is deeply rooted patriarchy of cultures in varying degrees, so we cannot deny that women and girls have been the chief victims of violence.
“Our guilt lies, in part, in the strong patriarchal system that has been long embedded into the fabric of our faith confessions and, sometimes, given a supposedly “godly” blessing with the support of some Scriptures taken out of context.
“We confess with shame that this has hitherto given credence to violence against women and girls. But we choose now to go a different path. We choose the path of violence against women and girls no longer.
“We cannot go that way because our reading of the Bible, with its undebatable stance for justice, cannot permit us to stand for violence against women and girls ” The National President added.
He noted that CCN had joined the collaboration on realising that Violence against Women and Girls was not what the Churches or faith based organisations alone could solve.
Fubara-Manuel stressed that it needed multilateral efforts, initiatives and every form of support in the right direction adding that the collaboration would assist.
He called on nonreligious persons to discern clearly how they have been trapped in the same declining culture and do all that they could to stop the evil.
“We are committed to directly, personally and communally opposing all systems of marginalisation that we have inherited or set up or that we are presently designing or setting up.
“We commit to promoting practices and establishing institutions that would allow women and girls to flourish in all ways spiritually, physically, sexually, emotionally and psychologically.”
He explained that the week of enlightenment called for fresh and aggressive approaches to raising awareness on Ending Violence against women and girls.
“It is designed to reach the grassroots effectively as collectively seek to reject abuse of women and girls of all forms.
“It includes women’s forced domestication, discrimination in religious, political and social settings, girl child neglect, exploitation, abuse, trafficking and others ” he said.
The CCN president, who is also the Vice President, Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in the West-Africa, called on all religious leaders and the public to join hands with CCN on the crusade.
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