From Henry Ibya, Makurdi
National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, has promised to work in partnership with an NGO, Concerned Women International Development Initiative, CWIDI, to fight inequality, access to justice for survivors of gender- based violence, particularly female sex workers and widows in the society.
The commission also assured the public that it will continue to champion the protection of the rights of the most vulnerable in the society as part of its mandate to all citizens.
Acting Coordinator of the Commission in Benue State, David Adzenda, gave the assurance yesterday in Makurdi when he received a delegation from Concerned Women International Development Initiative who were in the office to seek collaboration on issues of access to justice and gender-based violence, particularly against widows and Female Sex Workers, FSWs.
He said investigation has shown that those who are strong financially follow their own way of settling disputes while the most vulnerable suffer injustice, stressing that the commission has decided to beam its light on the most vulnerable in the society to protect their rights.
The acting state coordinator said because of the commission’s concern for the vulnerable including widows and female sex workers, it designed a 16-day activism programme at the end of each year, adding that during the period, cases of gender-based violence are brought under focus.
He noted that during the period, NHRC, in collaboration with other groups, ensured that the vulnerable have access to their rights and justice to enjoy freedom.
Adzenda, who said human rights issues should be everybody’s business, emphasized the need for people to watch each other’s back, assuring that the commission is ready to extend its hand of cooperation to all including CWIDI to ensure that everyone including the most vulnerable such as widows and female sex workers live in a society that is free of violence.
In their separate presentations, the Senior Programme Officer, CWIDI Benue State, Becky Gbihi, said the team was at NHRC’s office to seek collaboration in order to ensure access to justice for vulnerable groups.
She said CWIDI is dedicated to promoting gender equality, preventing gender-based violence, ensuring full and equitable participation of women in decision-making, achieving universal access to sexual and reproductive health for young people among others.
She noted that investigation has found out that widows and female sex workers, because of their condition, suffer violence in silence.
She said because of stigmatisation, widows fail to seek justice against harmful cultural practices for fear of contending with kinsmen of their late husbands, while female sex workers, on the other hand, because of the nature of their business, are maltreated and harassed by their clients, but they feel ashamed to report to the appropriate authorities, adding that CWIDI is against these type of practices and considers it a violation of their fundamental human rights.
On her part, the Programme Management Specialist, Precious Ifan, stated that CWIDI encourages women who suffer violence to report to the police, adding that the organisation has equally trained widows and female sex workers to know their rights as citizens.
She said they have taken advocacy to the police, informing them of the need to allow women, particularly widows and female sex workers who suffer violence to report without stigmatisation, adding that the team also sought to know how such cases were handled in the past and suggested better approaches.
Ifan expressed optimism that as custodians of human rights, the collaboration would help CWIDI realize its mandate for the most vulnerable category of people in the society.
