Rape: NGO Trains Bauchi Female Students on Gender-based Violence

Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi

Worried by the endemic cases of rape and other gender-based violence against women in the country, a non- governmental organisation, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC), has organised a training workshop for young women from various tertiary institutions in Bauchi State on how to curb violence against women.

The workshop which held at Chartwell Hotel, Bauchi, attracted girls from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi State University, Gadau, Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi and School of Agriculture, Bauchi.

The workshop engaged the young women on incidences of gender-based violence and how they could be addressed.
The Executive Director, WARDC, Dr. Abiola Afolabi said the workshop “is aimed at building their capacity to be able to fight against sexual and gender-based violence in their schools and also ensure that they can be able to take leadership positions.”

She said the centre as part of its strategies to fight incidences of gender- based violence in tertiary institutions deemed it necessary to establish the young women campus hub, which would be responding to issues of violence to ensure that their campuses are free of any form of violence.

“So today we are training them about the context of the problem to enable them know how they can participate and address the gender based violence in their campuses and how they can make their voices heard and stop violence around them,” she said.

She added that the project which is being supported by the African Women Development Fund, based in Ghana, also supports issues related to women and girls across Africa, including internally displaced persons.

One of the facilitators, Hajiya Binta Adamu said the objective of the project is to promote leadership among young people and is supposed to strengthen their resilience against violence, as well as support changes in policies.

She emphasised the need for resilience to enable them speak out on incidences of abuse on their campuses.
“Sexual harassment or any form of violence against women should not be tolerated; so what we are doing today is to strengthen the voices of these young women to be able to have the courage to report abuse whenever it occurs,” she said.

Some of the students who spoke at the workshop, expressed satisfaction with its content, saying that they were embolden to take action.