GBV: Edo to set up taskforce committee, referral centers in 18 LGAs

By Jethro Ibileke

The Edo state government has concluded arrangement to set up a sexual assault referral centre and a gender-based violence management task force across the 18 local government areas of the state.

The Chairperson of the Gender-Based Violence Management Committee, Mrs Betsy Obaseki, disclosed this at the 4th quarterly meeting of the Committee which was held on Wednesday, at the Festival Hall of the State Government House, in Benin City.

She said: “We are looking for reliable people, people who believe in the work, and who are upright, who will stand for justice and equity, not the ones who will beg for suspects.”

The Edo First Lady who charged the Committee to intensify fight against GBV especially in the rural communities, disclosed that said the SARC centres would be set up in the biggest PHC in each local government area.

She urged the committee to take advantage of “not just the physical space, but the staff to man them,” even as she tasked them to set up a taskforce in every local government area.

Mrs Obaseki also called for the harmonisation of the activities of civil society organisations in the state for the purpose of collating verifiable data.

According to her, “All the CSOs, no matter how belligerent they are, must come under the regulating Ministry’s framework, otherwise the Ministry would blacklist them.”

She added that the relevant Federal Ministries will be informed of this directive.

Members of the GBV management committee comprise of officials of the Ministries of Justice, Education, Youth and Gender Issues; the Police, NSCDC, SUBEB, NGOs and the Sexual Assaults Referral Center, all of whom presented their quarterly reports and recommendations as regards the activities in the State.