…encourages women participation in elections
A non-governmental organisation, Balm in Gilead Foundation, BIGIF, has partnered with relevant stakeholders to mitigate the spate of violence against women in politics.
At a Radio Town Hall Meeting in Ado-Ekiti, on Tuesday, Director of BIGIF, Tumininu Adedeji, said the NGO has selected 80 local mobilizers and three Senatorial District Supervisors across the 16 LGAs to conduct voter’s sensitisation, raise awareness on what constitutes Violence Against Women In Politics, VAWIP, and encourage women’s participation in the elections.
Adedeji said BIGIF was also collaborating with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps and other relevant organizations to take action in deterring violence against politically active women.
The BIGIF Executive Director said the campaign on VAWIP was an initiative that seeks to establish the link between gender-based electoral violence and the low level of participation of women in politics.
She said: “The campaign raises awareness of violence targeted at women during elections and engages relevant stakeholders to mitigate violence against women in politics.
“It promote intolerance to violence against women and advocate that duty-bearers commit to promoting the message to deter potential perpetrators of VAWIP.”
According to her, Stop-VAWIP is a nationwide initiative supported by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) with funding support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
She said that Stop-VAWIP campaign hotline 0800-300-3333 had been rolled out through a series of Live Radio Town Hall meeting airing on TV, Radio and on Billboards.
Adedeji noted that through the number women voters in Ekiti state would have the confidence to participate in the election, knowing that their concerns are being monitored and supported.
She urged voters to use the hotline as an effective medium for tracking and reporting incidents of violence and election-related issues.
Speaking at the programme, Public Relations Officer of NSCDC in Ekiti State,Tolu Afolabi, explained that there was a section of the law that protect the interest of women in politics, hence the need for government at all levels to give room for such law to thrive in the country.
Also, officer in charge of Legal matters Ekiti State Police Command, Femi Falade appealed to people to be fair with women in politics, saying this would allow them to perform excellently.
Falade who said that police would do everything to protect the right of women as enshrined in the constitution and warned residents of Ekiti State against violence during this month governorship election.
On her part, the representatives of FIDA, Bolanle Ojo, noted that political space should be made safe for all especially women and called for collective effort to check violence against women in the society.
