#StateofEmergencyGBV Movement: TechHerNG, Others Intensify Fight against Gender-based Violence
By Ofim Kelechi Ofim & Adedigba Adebowale
Every year, between November 25th, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women & December 10th, the International Human Rights Day, the world commemorates the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. This global campaign which began in 1991 seeks to draw attention to the horrors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) perpetrated against women and girls the world over.
At a time when the world is grappling with a pandemic, and a swell in the number of SGBV cases, the 2020 theme of “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect,” according to the UN Women, reflected the call for a “sustained global action to bridge funding gaps, ensure essential services for survivors of violence during the COVID-19 crisis, focus on prevention, and collection of data that can improve life-saving services for women and girls.”
Just as with other parts of the world, Nigeria was not left out of witnessing a stark rise in SGBV incidents. At the height of the COVID-19 lockdown, on the 3rd of June 2020, 22-year-old Vera Uwaila Omozuwa, an undergraduate student of the University of Benin, was brutally raped and clubbed to death. Preceding cases and the ones that followed are equally horrific.
The #StateofEmergencyGBV Movement
SGBV cases have always been rife in Nigeria. Hardly a day goes by without reported incidents with available data showing about three in 10 women likely to experience rape before turning 18. Furthermore, a UN Women report showed a 300% increase in gender and sexual violence during the COVID-19 lockdown with service providers and emergency workers stretched to the limit; they called it “the Shadow Pandemic.”
In this time, social media has been central to amplifying the voices of victims/survivors and bringing these atrocities to light. The rape and murder of Uwaila irked not just activists but drew international condemnation. It sparked a chain of events that crystalised into the formation of the State of Emergency GBV Movement led by TechHerNG, a social enterprise working to bridge the knowledge gap between gender and tech while empowering women.
In the words of Chioma Agwuegbo, Convener of the State of Emergency GBV Movement, Uwaila’s death “was the tipping point for SGBV advocates, who had long been calling for a state of emergency on sexual and gender-based violence.”
If the incident wasn’t traumatic enough, the possibility that perpetrators of SGBV crimes may never face justice was numbing. Societal attitudes and even law enforcement systems seem permissive, if not conducive for such crimes to thrive as arrests rarely translate to prosecutions. Existing laws, even when applied, are ineffective with most outcomes ending with mere slaps on the wrist. Compounding this is the shaming and silencing of victims which further embolden perpetrators.
Thus, at the peak of this crisis in June 2020 TechHerNG working with Invictus Africa, Connected Development, Enough is Enough Nigeria, Stand To End Rape, SilverChipFox, Yiaga Africa, Youth Hub Africa, Dorothy Njemanze Foundation, and Education as a Vaccine, launched the #StateofEmergencyGBV Movement to not only register outrage but also to force systemic reform actions against SGBV in Nigeria.
The Movement’s key demands
From inception, the Movement’s sustained action plan has aimed at tackling the scourge of sexual violence. These actions range from engaging citizens to pressuring legislators, state governors and law enforcement. Right from the start on June 4th 2020, when the Movement started mobilising citizens on social media, inviting them to call their representatives to demand the protection of women and girls from sexual predators, it made five key demands including:
Domestication of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act, 2015 and Child Rights Act, 2003 in all states of the federation. The VAPP Act is so far the most comprehensive piece of legislation in Nigeria that guarantees protection from all forms of violence and includes a clear and detailed definition of rape. This ensures that all persons are protected under the law. Similarly, only 25 states have domesticated the Child Rights Acts, a critical piece of legislation that upholds the rights of children to free from discrimination and violence.
Establishment of Sexual Assault Referral Centers (SARC) in every state, backed with a coordinated, sustainably-funded support system. There are just 24 of them in only 18 states and the FCT. This is grossly inadequate as far as catering to daily SGBV cases is concerned. Currently, most of these SARCs are funded and supported by foreign donors, which we believe is not a sustainable model. The Movement is demanding for the government at all levels to prioritise the SARCs, and to establish new ones with direct budgetary support.
Criminalization and prompt state-led prosecution of SGBV cases within states, regardless of requests or interference by the victim’s family or interested parties.
Implementation of functional Family Support Units and Force Gender Units of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) at the state level that are well equipped to address SGBV cases.
The imposition of public disciplinary measures against officials of the NPF and state prosecutors that mishandle cases of SGBV.
Breakthroughs & Milestones
During the peaceful protest on June 5th, 2020 in Abuja, Lagos and other cities, the Movement submitted memos to the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, Police Authorities and the Federal Executive Council calling for an effective and sustained institutional response to SGBV in Nigeria.
As a result of these actions, the Nigeria Police Force on June 8th, 2020, released new operational guidelines which included measures to address incidences of gender-based violence. The Nigeria Governors Forum on June 1oth resolved to declare a state of emergency on rape and other acts of gender-based violence against women and children in the country.
The Movement also met with the Speaker of the House of Representatives and obtained a commitment to support the quest for drastic and effective reform in addressing cases of SGBV. The Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, after his interaction with the Movement, hosted a virtual meeting with the 36 Speakers of the State House of Assembly to ask those who have not passed the laws to expedite action on the VAPP Act and Child’s Rights Act.
Further to this, the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Justice inaugurated an inter-ministerial Gender-Based Violence Management Committee to coordinate the government response to sexual and gender-based violence in Nigeria.
The most gladdening of all of the progress made has to be that some states have adopted the VAPP Act. At the time of the protests in June 2020, only 13 states and the Federal Capital Territory adopted the law. Today six other states, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Abia, Kwara, Delta and Nasarawa have since followed suit. Gombe and Imo states are on the verge of passing the law.
The Movement also in recognition that both the VAPP and Child Rights Acts are insufficient in the fight against SGBV, sent a memo to the Constitutional Review Committee of the 9th National Assembly proposing a review of specific sections of the Constitution as a fundamental strategy to combat the scourge of SGBV in Nigeria.
In November, the Movement in partnership other stakeholders sent personalised 541 letters to the legislators and governors of the states (19 states at the time) reminding them of the urgency of the demand for passage of the VAPP Act their respective states. The individual letters read in part: “Your Excellency, in view of escalation in incidents of rape and other forms of sexual abuse nationwide, and in line with your administration’s commitment to providing quality leadership for citizens, we solicit your support for definite legislative action that will see to the imminent domestication of the VAPP Act in your state.”
Going forward
In marking the 2020 edition of the 16 Days of Activism, the Movement on Thursday 17th December 2020, addressed a press conference in Abuja, they appealed to the “state governors to honour their promise of 12th of June 2020 by working with other stakeholders to end violence against women and girls.
“We also call on the federal and state governments and her agencies to prioritise the prevention of sexual exploitation and violence — to hold individuals accountable and to respect the dignity of survivors by providing them with meaningful support in line with the commitments made in the Beijing Platform for Action, 25 years ago.”
Too many lives have been lost. Obiamaka Orakwue, a 15-year-old Secondary School student raped and killed in her home in Lagos State; Uwaila Omozuwa, the 22-year-old University of Benin student raped and killed at a church in Benin; Grace Oshiagwu, 21-year-old National Diploma student of Oke-Ogun Polytechnic, Saki, Oyo State and Bello Barakat, 18-year-old student of the Federal College of Animal Health and Production in Ibadan are just a few dead victims of 2020.
If we fold our hands and do nothing, it will keep happening. Ensuring that our homes and public spaces are safe for our women and girls is a collective responsibility of the government and the citizens. The citizens especially must begin to hold leaders accountable. This is the time to turn the heat on the governors and the legislators so these laws will be adopted in the remaining states. This is a fundamental step in this fight, a commitment that the State of Emergency GBV Movement has resolved to pursue.
Visit www.stateofemergencygbv.com for more information on the activities of the #StateOfEmergencyGBV Movement.
Ofim is the Communications Officer for TechHerNG & a member of the strategy team, #StateofEmergencyGBV Movement.
Adedigba is a volunteer with TechHerNG
