Mrs Moji Makanjuola, the Executive Director, International Society of Media in Public Health (ISMPH) has urged government and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to create innovative responses which seek to change the mindset that made violence against women globally.
Makanjuola, Veteran Journalist, made the call at the unveiling of a Gender Mainstream Training Manual for Higher Institutions in Nigeria in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN), reports that the manual is a collaborative effort between the ISMPH, Spotlight Initiative and UNESCO.
She noted with concern the increasing rate of violence against women and girls in the country.
”The central purpose of the manual is to drive conversations on the issues of Gender-Based Violence, (SGBV) and Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights in Nigerian tertiary institutions.
”Governments at all levels and civil society organisations must rise to the occasion and create innovative responses against violence against women.
”One way we can collectively achieve this is by creating or engaging existing platforms to normalise conversations about the rights, welfare and body autonomy of women,” she said.
“Globally, it is estimated that one in three women experience either physical or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their life time.
”In Nigeria, these figures are mirrored with 30 percent of girls and women aged between 15 and 49. Increasingly, sexual abuse has grown to involve minors,”Makanjuola said.
She stressed that the COVID-19 pandemic and its restrictions had a profound impact on the welfare of women and girls in Nigeria.
“While the full extent of the damage done has not been fully ascertained, statistics show that the lockdown increased GBV cases,” she noted.
Earlier, UNESCO Regional Advisor for Higher Education and ICT, UNESCO Regional Office Abuja, Mr Salifou Abdoulaye, said that the inadequate inclusiveness of women and girls’ perspective in policy making decisions, resource allocation and implementation in the economy and social sector continues to challenge the advancement of gender equality in Nigeria.
He said that at the higher education level, gender-based violence, especially the worrisome issue of sexual harassment and sex for marks syndrome had drawn the attention of education policy makers.
“Therefore this manual could not have come at a better time than now. To this effect, taking into account the quality of this manual on critical issues such as gender based violence and sexual harassment in higher education injections and the need to sensitise millions of students and academics” he said.
UNESCO, he said, proposes for the production of the manual in Massive Open Online Courses format for wide dissemination within and outside Nigeria.
Abdoulaye appealed to the Nigerian Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission to take leadership and support the institutionalisation and domestication of the manual and make it available to universities.
On her part, Prof. Mabel Evwierhoma of the University of Abuja, said the manual would increase the tempo and add value to the efforts to reduce gender-based violence.
Evwierbima said that the manual would further educate students on what to do to protect themselves in the face of violence.
Stakeholders at the launch agreed that the manual will go a long way in eliminating GBV in the country, particularly when properly put to use.