Omobolanle Shosanya
Stakeholders in the civil society space have implored Governor Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State to prosecute gender-based violence and female genital mutilation offenders in order to serve as deterrents to the general public.
They spoke at a programme organized by The New Generation, Girls and Women Initiative (NIGAWD),which was supported by the United Nations Population Fund .
It was tagged: “Strengthening of Ministries, Department , Agencies (MDAS) and Law Enforcement Agencies on the Implementation/Operationalization of Laws and Legal Frameworks against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Gender Based Violence (GBV) to Improve Access to Justice for Survivors and Victims in Ekiti State”.
They also sought the support of medical petitioners in ending the outlawed cultural practice tagged Female Genital Mutilation.(FGM) .
They advised non-governmental organizations through their interventions to train and deploy community vanguards recognized by the government at local levels to serve as monitoring and surveillance mechanisms who will ensure reportage of cases.
They maintained that FGM is being continually fueled by tradition and cultural norms in Communities among human, especially women, hence the reason for the state government to intervene and proffer long-lasting solutions to the menace.
“Persons who aid and abate the practice of FGM and those who interfere with prosecution of reported cases should be prosecuted and made to face the law; to serve as deterrent to the general public.Necessary support should be afforded to women and girls at risk of FGM and GBV through the Protection and Occupation order of the state GBV Prohibition Law 2019.
“Medical practitioners should serve as community police to check babies for FGM during immunization and mandatorily report the case.”they added in a communique made available to Premium News on Monday.
They advised the Ministry of Budget and Finance to encourage the release of funds for the full implementation of the GBV Prohibition law and other interventions, adding that there should be advocacy for an increased budgetary allocation by all concerned MDAs towards a more effective FGM and GBV abandonment campaign by the state government.