Mothers must break culture of silence and save their children – Aisha Buhari

Wife of the President has decried the increasing rate of gender-based violence (GBV) especially those against young women, calling on mothers to break the culture of silence and report cases of abuse against their children. She was speaking during an advocacy visit on #JusticeforOchanya by members of the FGGC Gboko Old Girls Association, on Friday, November 23, 2018 at the State House Abuja.

Mrs. Buhari said the unfortunate fate of Ochanya Ogbanje shows how women suffer high levels of risk at the family and community level especially in the hands of close relations. She noted that this barbaric culture, which destroys those who are supposed to be protected, is neither Nigerian nor African.

She averred that protecting women and girls from all forms of violence is part of government’s obligation to protect life and property of citizens as provided in the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act of 2015 and the Child Rights Act of 2003.

She lamented the dearth of data on the trends, patterns, features and driving factors behind gender based violence, and called for the establishment of a tracking mechanism through a National Dash Board on Gender-Based Violence trends across the country to better track efforts at prosecuting and rehabilitating offenders, as well as compensating victims and their families.

She called on the Inspector-General of Police to expedite action on the arrest and prosecution of all those involved in the murder of Ochanya.

Leader of the team, Dr. Ngozi Azodo, said the circumstances of Ochanya’s death has brought home the reality and magnitude of the sexual abuse of minors in our societies, and that the biggest justice for Ochanya is the assured protection of every single child to ensure that never again, will another child no matter their place in society have to endure what Ochanya endured.

She commended the show of indignation by Nigerians over what happened to Ochanya and called for concerted action to end the evil trend. She also called for the use of the platform of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence set aside by the United Nations, and commencing on the 25^th November, 2018 in order to galvanize action to end violence against women and girls around the world.