…As stakeholders call for action to end violence against women in Nigeria
23,638 sign petition asking States to domesticate VAPP Act
From left: Programme Specialist Joint EU-UN Spotlight Initiative UN Women Nigeria – Tosin Akibu, Nigeria Country Director, Global Citizen – Maimuna Maibe, Secretary General of Women Right Advancement & Protection Alternative, WRAPA – Saidatu Mahdi, Senior Special Assistant Technical To The Minister of Women Affairs – Princess Jummai Idonije, Dakore Egbuson-Akande, Chief Executive Connected Development – Hamzat Lawal and Dr Otun Adewale of National Prog. Lead Wellbeing Foundations Africa chatting during a High-Level Round table Program on Action Against Gender Based Violence: Full Domestication of the Violence Against People Prohibition Act by All States in Nigeria held in Abuja.
As this year’s 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence draw to a close tomorrow, at least 23,000 people have signed a petition calling on State Governments to domesticate the Violence Against People Prohibition, VAPP Act.
The petition, which was initiated by an international advocacy group, Global Citizen, was addressed to the government through the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs Abuja.
Checks by VANGUARD on globalcitizen.org showed that the petition had hit 23,638 as of 5.04pm on Wednesday.
The petition read in part, “It is time for accountability. Every state should commit to safeguarding the lives of women and girls, by approving and enforcing the VAPP Act, with a focus on vulnerable populations.”
At a high-level roundtable on Wednesday in Abuja, which was tagged: ‘Action Against Gender-Based Violence: Full Domestication of VAPP Act by All States in Nigeria’, stakeholders within and outside the country noted that nearly 30 per cent of Nigerian women have experienced physical violence by age 15.
Source: Vanguard