Ambode urges review of laws against sexual, gender-based violence for stiffer penalties

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode on Thursday urged everyone to take a common stand against sexual and gender-based violence by advocating for the review of laws to provide stiffer punishments for offenders given the serious threat the evil act poses to safety and security of women and the girl-child.

The Governor who spoke through the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr. Tunji Bello at the 18th Regular National Council Meeting on Women Affairs and Social Development held at the Academy Inn, Agidingbi, Ikeja, added that it constituted a social menace that must be kicked out of the nation’s social system in order to protect and preserve the dignity of womanhood.

He posited that to achieve social inclusion and integration for socio-economic development, everyone must identify and address decisively issues of gender inequality, girl child education, domestic violence and sexual abuse that have limited the capacity of women to achieve their full potentials and contribute their quota to the development of the economy.

“In Lagos State, the issue of sexual abuse and gender- based violence is being addressed relentlessly through the Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT)”, he explained.

Ambode added that the state government was committed to ensuring the growth and development of the economy in every facet which explained why it had continued to invest significantly on safety and security as no economy could thrive in an atmosphere of fear, chaos and general insecurity.

He said the theme for this 18th Regular National Council Meeting: “Peace, Security and Social Inclusion; Key Building Blocks for Achieving Economic Growth and Sustainable Development,” was not only apt but also touched directly the critical issues that determined the level of prosperity that could be attained by any society.

The governor stressed that the choice of the theme was instructive and revealed the untold hardship usually suffered by women and children in a state of insecurity, as well as the need to increase the involvement of women in the social, political and economic activities of the society.

Ambode stated that Lagos remained committed to a system of governance which did not discriminate on the basis of gender, ethnicity and physical disability and had ensured through various platforms, that all citizens without bias to gender have the opportunity to express their opinions on issues especially those that directly affect them.

He explained that the government believed in empowering the informal sector, within which women constituted the majority, so as to facilitate the process of socio-economic inclusion, adding that the mandate of Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (ETF) was to identify genuine and credible entrepreneurs and financially empower them to grow their businesses and establish new ones.

Speaking, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Senator Aisha Al-Hassan  called on more women to contest for political offices.

Al-Hassan, who noted  that though a lot of progress had been made in the inclusion of women in politics, emphasized that women needed to rise up and take the bull by the horns.

The Minister outlined some of the Federal Government’s programmes aimed at improving the lot of women and girls, including the National Women Empowerment Fund, Conditional Fund Transfer, Government Enterprise and Economic Programme said plans were underway to reach more women at the grassroots.

She said  arrangements were currently ongoing to hand over the various Federal Government’s skill acquisition centres across the federation to the host communities to enable more women to benefit from the many empowerment initiatives of the Federal Government

Also in her address, the Commissioner for Women affairs and Poverty Alleviation Hon (Mrs) Lola Akande who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Abiola Liadi stated that the State Government in various ways had practicalised how social inclusion is not negotiable in the bid for any society to achieve sustainable development across board.

She noted that the various technical sessions held by the delegates had generated many  creative ideas and  perspective to  women and social development.

The commissioner expressed the hope that the recommendations of the meeting  would give birth to policies, laws and innovation that would assist Stakeholders to engender more efficient approaches  to better the lots of women