1st June, 2018
The Dorothy Njemanze Foundation on Friday said it would use entertainment to tackle sexual rights in the country.
Ms Dorothy Njemanze, Founder of the foundation after a pre-film screening of ‘AKACHI’, a movie series on sexual and reproductive health and rights in Abuja.
Njemanze explained that the essence of the movie was to provide advocacy on sexual rights.
AKACHI tells a story of a 15-year old girl who was raped by her step-father and had to be thrown out of the house by her mother.
The movie was produced by the foundation in collaboration with Ipas, an NGO, to help in fighting for the rights of the girl-child and gender-related issues.
She said that: “Akachi is a movie that promotes sexual and reproductive health and rights, family planning, and sexuality education.
“The movie is a reflection of what happens in the country as a lot of negative sexual issues go on with people not reporting.
“It implores parents to teach their children sexual education right from their young age as it was the right thing to do.
“Due to the high rate of illiteracy in the country, the foundation thought it wise to use entertainment to provide contents that could reach the grass root community.
“Our public version also comes with a sign interpreter so that the deaf community could be carried along.’’
Njemanze added that the movie would be formally premiered in cinemas in two weeks’ time and it would be on all social media platforms for people to watch.
Mr Edosa Oviawe, Policy Advisor, Ipas, added that a lot of sexual and reproductive issues were of importance, but people always found it difficult to talk about them.
Oviawe urged Nigerians to speak out as 13 percent of Nigerian women die annually from sexual and reproductive issues.
The representative of UN Women, Mrs Nneka Egbuna, said that it was important to raise awareness on the issue of abortion, child rights, parental trust and care.
She added that the movie provides an opportunity for people to learn and deal with sexual issues.