Ogun: Teenage Girls Protest Rape, Sexual Harassment
James Sowole in Abeokuta
Scores of teenage girls from secondary schools in Ibafo, Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State, Wednesday, trooped to streets in the populous town, to protest the spate of sexual harassment of girls, which had turned many of them to teenage mothers with attendant consequences.
The girls who put on white sport vests, were mobilised by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Partnership for Amplifying Voice and Empowerment of Girls (PAVE), with support from two other organisations, HACEY and Empower, moved round some streets in Magada area of Ibafo to protest the menace of sexual harassment.
Armed with placards and banners of various inscriptions condemning undue exploitation of teenage girls by both adults and street boys, the protesters while moving, chanted slogans to express their anger against the ugly act.
Some of the placards read: Sexual Harassment Is Not Fun, It’s a Crime; Let The Girls Walk Free; Speak Out to Condemn Sexual Harassment; Sexual Harassment Attracts Punishment, among others.
While marching on the streets, the girls distributed hand bills and had stopped over at strategic junctions where they sensitised people on the need for all stakeholders to speak out against the evil of criminal acts.
Speaking on the occasion, the Coordinator for Ogun State project of PAVE, Damilola Oyetunji, said the organisation, was concerned about the menace of harassment of young girls in the area.
She said it was disturbing, that young girls cannot move freely in the community particularly from.6:00pm.
Oyetunji lamented that many young girls had been reportedly raped leading to cases of unwanted pregnancies.
She said the rally was thus organised to sensitise girls on how they can take care of themselves and to know how to relate with opposite sex.
Oyetunji said the NGO also engaged in sensitisation of teenage girls on menstrual hygiene and other behavioural acts of girls.
She said the NGO also take awareness to girls in their schools in order to sensitise them on how to take care of themselves as girls.
Speaking with journalists during the protest, a registered birth attendant, Mrs. Mercy Olatunde, said many girls in the area have suffered harassment from street boys lamenting that girls cannot move freely in the area.
Mrs. Olatunji said as birth attendant, she had handled several cases of teenage pregnancies with many of them without a reliable spouse.
While commending the NGO for organising the rally, Mrs. Olatunji called on parents to take good care of their girls and avoid exposing them to what can cause them to be raped so that their future will not be jeopardised.
