To reduce the menace of Gender-Based Violence, GBV, the Ogun State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Adijat Adeleye, has called for action to raise voices for and make commitments to the safety of women and girls.

Adeleye made this call at a town hall meeting in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, community and other opinion leaders on prevention and response to GBV held in Abeokuta on Wednesday.

She said the meeting was in commemoration of the 16 Days Activism on the elimination of all forms of violence against the female gender, stating that community leaders comprising Baales, religious leaders, and Community Development Association leaders, among others, were gatekeepers of the community.

The commissioner emphasised that they exhibit a significant role in shaping minds, influencing behaviours and building trust, charging them to look beyond ongoing campaigns to make a lasting impact in the fight against GBV in their respective communities.

“We need to implement these plans; action they say is key. This is not a checklist we can tick and move on. It’s a breathing process and it starts with you. You have to walk the talk. So, when we create action plans, ensure they don’t collect dust on some shelf. Make sure they are enforced; talk about it in your communities, churches, mosques, garages and parks, and share from one leader to another,” she said.

While reeling out the strides of the Abiodun-led administration in ridding the state of GBV, the commissioner stated that the government had established Sexual Assault Referral Centres, SARC, in zones of the state in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, and Ogun State Transformation Projects, OGSTEP. The centres, she added, were equipped to provide immediate care, support and counselling for survivors of GBV.

She added that this intervention aimed to facilitate the commencement of the healing process for survivors, revealing that toll-free lines had equally been provided for a quick response from the government-trained responders and service providers.

In her welcome address, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Adejumoke Adewole, underscored the importance of a collective mission to raise awareness of GBV and advocate for the rights and dignity of women and girls in communities.

She implored the stakeholders to use their positions to speak on behalf of the voiceless, particularly women and girls, calling on them to work together with the state government and UNFPA to curb structures perpetuating violence in society.

Earlier in her lecture titled “Roles of Community Leaders in Responding and Preventing GBV,” UNFPA’s gender analyst, Dr Esther Somefun, highlighted some of the key roles of community leaders as embracing and encouraging survivors of GBV, avoiding discrimination towards them, reporting acts of violence against women and girls at all times and publicising the toll-free lines for reporting GBV.

While delivering another lecture, a representative of APIN Public Health Initiatives, Favour Ojo-Omoniyi, noted that opinion leaders needed to equip themselves with necessary education about GBV and prepare to offer support to survivors.

Representative of the Forum of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria, FOMWAN, Zainab Jinadu and her counterpart from the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, Osioyemi Olasunkanmi, commended the state government and UNFPA for coming up with the idea of involving them as gatekeepers of the community in eliminating GBV cases.