Odumakin calls for implementation of laws tackling violence against women

Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin of the Women Arise for Change Initiatives has called on the three tiers of government to implement legislations and guidelines that tackle the menace of violence against women in Nigeria.

She made the submission on Sunday while speaking on the commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women annually on every November 25.

She said the premise of the day was to raise awareness of the fact that women around the world are subject to rape, domestic violence and other forms of violence.

“Furthermore, one of the aims of the day is to highlight that the scale and true nature of the issue is often hidden,” it said.

Okei-Odumakin said: “One major way of eliminating violence against women is the implementation of various guidelines and legislations that have been created toward tackling the menace of violence against women.

“We also need to increase the capacity of our law enforcement agencies, educate the citizens more than we are currently doing, and ultimately, our society must criminalise all forms of actions of violence against women,” she said.

The human rights activist also urged governments to ensure that women, being the highest population in the country were made to leave freely and without fear.

She urged women to discover the strength that existed not only in their numbers, but also in their ability as equal humans to others.

Okei-Odumakin advised women to ensure that they broke the culture of silence, which according to her, imposes a lot of reactionary culture of suppression on them.

She also urged women to make education their priorities, saying that an educated mind, anywhere, “is a liberated mind”.