Wife of the Ekiti State Governor, Mrs. Bisi Fayemi, has decried the various forms of violence and dimensions against women in Nigeria politics, saying it called for concern.
Fayemi spoke during a live Radio programme, organised by the Stop Violence Against Women in Politics (Stop-VAWIP) and Balm in Gilead Foundation for Sustainable Development (BIGIF) monitored in Ado-Ekiti.
BIGIF is an NGO, committed to empowering women, youths and children to ensure equal access to sustainable livelihood through the provision of care and support services, education, referral, resource mobilisation, human rights promotion, social inclusion, youths development and women empowerment.
The governor’s wife promised to enhance women’s active participation in politics and the electoral processes by mitigating effect of violence against women in politics in all its forms in the state.
According to her, some of them are, but not limited to physical, economic, emotional, sexual, and other forms of violence.
She said that the violence negatively impacted women’s health and the general well-being, adding it also has negative effects on the country’s political and socioeconomic development.
“The objectives of Stop-VAWIP campaign are to raise awareness about the harmful effects of violence against women in politics and engage relevant stakeholders to mitigate it.
“It is also to encourage women to actively participate in the electoral processes and to track and respond to cases of violence against women in politics during election period,” she said.
Fayemi, at the Town Hall meeting, took the listeners down the memory lane; sharing how the GBV response programmes and law started in Ekiti and grew to the point where it was institutionalised.
She said the VAPP/GBV Prohibition Law is now established as a comprehensive legal framework that protects women and promotes a culture where women could live freely and safely.
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