The Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Pauline Tallen, has tasked media practitioners to embark on coordinated and integrated effort toward ending the menace of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in the country.
She gave the advice in Abuja when she declared the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Media Engagement workshop on National Communication Strategy on Ending Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and Harmful Practices (HPs) Against Women and Girls in Nigeria.
The minister, who was represented by Mrs Victoria Lar, a Director in the ministry, said that the overall objective of the strategy was to strengthen government institutions toward addressing GBV.
She noted that “the overall objective of the strategy is to strengthen government wide approaches, identify, coordinate, integrate and leverage on current efforts and resources to address Gender Based Violence in a holistic, efficient and effective manner.”
Tallen, who reiterated the imperative of ending GBV, noted that the strategy was a call to action for media practitioners to respond effectively to issues concerning the menace.
Tallen, who decried the level of violence against women and girls, stated that discrimination and violence against women was alarming.
She said “the rate of Gender Based Violence against women and girls affects the entire communities, women and girls, men and boys differently, no one is immune to this.
“The spike, pattern, trends and the consequences of these forms of violence impact negatively on individuals, families, communities and the country in general.
“Violence against women and girls, gender inequality, patriarchy and harmful cultural practices significantly inhibit women’s potential to fully contribute their quota and participate in national development.”
She, however, expressed satisfaction over the interest of states to domesticate and implement the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act 2015.
-NAN-
