Lagos inducts 210 students as anti-Sexual, Gender Violence ambassadors

The Lagos State Government, through its Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA), has inducted 210 students from Education District V into the Queen’s and King’s Club, after weeks of orientation.

Speaking during the induction ceremony at Agboju on Monday, the Executive Secretary, DSVA, Mrs. TitiLola Vivour-Adeniyi, said that the students would serve as ambassadors of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV).

Vivour-Adeniyi said that there was the need to heighten awareness to tackle headlong the menace of the SGBV prevalence in the state

She said that there was the need to bring perpetrators to book via the referral pathway laid down by the state government.

Vivour-Adeniyi said the initiative aimed at creating a sustainable social structure in educational institutions that would help debunk socio-cultural misconceptions.

The executive secretary said that it would promote empowered femininity and bring about behavioural and attitudinal change in the minds of young girls in Lagos State.

The initiative would also help to constitute an alliance of trained young girls and boys in schools who would serve as peer educators and advocates of positive femininity and masculinity.

She said that the club would expose the girls and boys to increased knowledge on Gender Based Violence and Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH).

According to her, it will enable them question dominant norms which promote gender inequities, as well as challenge the myths and misconceptions about violence.

”While the agency seeks to promote positive SRH behaviour, the initiative would also assist in the generation of data on the perception of girls and boys regarding Gender Based Violence (GBV) and SRH.

”Empowering and inaugurating the students into the King’s Club and Queen’s Club Initiative was expedient, as children are amongst the statistics of victims, preys to peodophiles and all forms of abuse,” she said.

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One of the facilitators, Judith Osinaike, said the aim was to create a sustainable social structure in educational institutions in the state.

Osinaike, who is the Founder – University Royalty Empowerment Foundation, urged the students to continue to strive for excellence and champion a world free of all forms of SGBV and to see themselves as ambassadors and change agents in the society.

Meanwhile, after taking the pledge of allegiance, the students from the Education District 5 were subsequently inducted into the club and awarded certificates and identity cards to validate their induction into the club.