A non-governmental organization, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), has called on the victims of gender-based violence and their relatives to speak up about their challenges to enable perpetrators face the consequences of their actions.

CITAD’s Gender Officer, Zainab Aminu, made the call during the NGO’s monthly media briefing in Kano.

Aminu, who was represented by Fatima Baba, stated that the rise of gender-based violence in Kano has called for the need to adopt Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) by the Kano State House of Assembly.

She said: “35 cases were reported via the GBV App for the month which includes rape, sexual harassment, online harassment, sexual abuse, wife battering, and school violence.

“Keeping silent will not protect the victims who suffer. It encourages the perpetrators to take this silence as a stamp of acceptability.

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“The VAPP Act, which clearly outlines laws to tackle violence against women and girls in Nigeria, has still not been implemented in some States, seven years after its enactment. Most citizens remain unaware of its laws and implications.”

Aminu further called on the security agencies to handle GBV cases professionally, urging parents to desist from preventing their abused children from speaking up under the guise of bringing shame to the family.

“Lack of speaking up and punishing the culprits encourage GBV cases to keep growing and perpetrators went unpunished despite recent interventions by several government institutions and civil society groups in the state,” she added.

She, therefore, appealed to the government “to create more support centres where concerned individuals and victims of GBV can report their cases to seek help”, saying the measure would help to increase access to life-saving services for the victims.

The Star