GBV: First Lady Takes Sensitization to Ibesikpo Asutan

 

Wife of the Governor of Akwa Ibom State and Chairperson of the Akwa Ibom State Gender - Based Violence Management Committee (AKAGBVMC), Pastor Patience Eno has engaged with Community Stakeholders in Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area to raise awareness on the ills of Gender-Based Violence.

In a Town Hall meeting at the Council Hall, Ibesikpo Asutan LGA, Pastor Patience Eno who said the fight against GBV will be tackled collectively, explained that the advocacy visit is to educate and inform the Community Stakeholders of the provisions of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) VAPP Law 2020, to avert breaches of the law.

According to the Governor's Wife who was represented by a GIFA team member Mrs Anne Abraham, the month of June is dedicated to advocacies and sensitisations on the contents of the VAPP law, advising them as leaders of different groups, to share the information received with their members to help curb the incessant occurrence of GBV cases in the State.

A member of the Akwa Ibom State GBV Management Committee, Mrs Kokomma Umanah, the Director of the Akwa Ibom Multi - Door Courthouse Magistrate Helen Umana and Miss Ekemini Akpakpan of GIFA, took turns to handle several sessions on SGBV, the mandate of the AKS GBV Committee, as well as the stipulated penalties - sanctions and fines, for the different GBV offences.

They particularly talked about a few GBV offences such as harmful traditional widowhood practices, rape, Female Genital Mutilation and  forceful ejection from home. Other offences included willfully making false statements, forced financial dependence, as well as emotional, verbal and psychological abuse.

The Town Hall meeting featured an interactive section where the men and women participated in a Focal Group Discussion anchored by Mrs Edidiong Inyang, where they responded to issues bordering on existing traditional laws against GBV and enforcement patterns in the LGA.

Stakeholders from Ibesikpo Asutan including the Wife of the Head of Civil Service, Mrs Uduak Essien, Wife of the Paramount Ruler, Ibesikpo Asutan LGA, Obongawan Udeme Clement, Wife of Chairman AKICORP, Mrs Joanna Owodiong - Idemeko, Wife of the Clan Head, Ibesikpo, Obongawan Glory Etuk, Village Head of Nung Udoe, Eteidung Okon Joseph, Archbishop Emilia Samuel, Youth Leader Nnimong Inyang, expressed their commitment to reporting cases of violence to deter perpetrators at the meeting which brought together leaders of women and youth groups across the LGA.

Media Unit

Office of the Wife of Governor, AKS

June 6, 2024