By Henry Ibya, Makurdi
Chairperson of the International Federation of Women Lawyers, FIDA, Benue State chapter, Mrs Prisca Ula said fundamental human rights must not be denied on account of the person’s action or type of business.
Speaking when she received a delegation from Concerned Women International Development Initiative, CWIDI, who were in FIDA’s Makurdi office on an advocacy visit, Ula said FIDA, as a group of women lawyers who fight for the rights of women and children, particularly the vulnerable, is willing to collaborate with other organisations to pursue justice for the downtrodden.
She said FIDA believes in fighting for the rights of women and children, especially injustice against the most vulnerable such as cases of Gender-Based Violence, GBV.
Reacting to whether the organisation’s advocacy covers female sex workers, she noted that though FIDA is not in support of prositution, its concern is where their fundamental human rights are violated by their clients in the course of transaction, assuring that these group of women have rights and FIDA would not hesitate to enforce justice if their rights are violated.
She encouraged CWIDI not to stop at fighting the injustices meted out against them, but also design programmes that would lead them out of the business to become meaningful citizens to themselves and the society.
In a remark, the Programme Officer, CWIDI, Benue State, Becky Gbihi said they were in FIDA’s office to seek collaboration on issues of violence against women, particularly widows and female sex workers.
She said CWIDI, whose objective is to promote gender equality and equitable access to sexual and reproductive health rights and justice for girls, women, sex workers and girls with disabilities, also prevents gender-based violence and fights injustice against women.
Gbihi said the organisation had carried out advocacy to the police on the need to remove stereotypes in the vulnerable class by encouraging them to report cases of gender-based violence instead of stigmatising them and ensuring access to justice for female sex workers.
She expressed optimism that the partnership would break new grounds in the fight against injustice for the vulnerable population in the state.
