…Warns Male Children To Desist From Harmful Practices
By Rasaq Adebayo
The Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA) has embarked on a campaign against early child marriage, saying the act is inimical to the life of a girl child.
The Ministry made the appeal during the Sensitization and Advocacy campaign programmes against Female Genital Mutilation and Child Forced Early Marriage held in Alaba-Rago and Alaworo Markets.
The Ministry also warned male residents in Ojo Local Government Area to kick against all forms of harmful practices and curb the incidences of sexual and gender-based violence in various communities of Lagos State.
Speaking, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Mrs. Oluyemi Kalesanwo, urged residents to embrace change as evolving communities, in eliminating the pulsating trends that threaten the well-being and future of countless girls in the two communities.
She said: “Your communities are recognised as vibrant settlements where significant impact can be made on these issues that are deeply rooted in harmful traditions, cultural beliefs, and social norms, which we, however, want a total stop to.”
The Permanent Secretary, who was represented by the Director, Domestic Violence Unit, Ms. Olorunfemi Toyin, explained that early child marriage robs young girls of their childhood, education, and opportunities, thus perpetrating a cycle of poverty, and illiteracy, hampering life choices.
She made a clarion call for the total eradication of the practice.
She stated: “We cannot allow our girls who are born and groomed here in Lagos State to be forced into early marriage under 18 years of age, a stage when they are not physically, mentally, and emotionally ready. Moreso, the T.H.E.M.E.S agenda under our able Governor, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, which focuses on gender equality and social inclusion, frowns at this.
“Sad to say, however, a good number of such victims are disturbed from fulfilling their potential as contributors to meaningful economic growth. Worst still, they are being inflicted with psychological and physical pains.”
While recounting the adverse effects of female genital mutilation, the Permanent Secretary reiterated that there is no medical nor scientific basis for the practice but one that induces infections, difficulties in childbirth, and long-term emotional trauma in victims.
Kalesanwo averred that the legal framework had been provided for charging perpetrators to four years imprisonment, hence, the need for a collective supportive environment in improving access to qualitative education, healthcare, gender equality, and women empowerment strategies.
In her address, the Iyaloja Alaba-Rago, Alhaja Shukurat Jolaade Jimoh, informed that rape cases in the community should be deliberately addressed in setting young girls free from the shackles of harmful practices, as a collective societal endeavour.
“I want to emphasize that for the nation to blossom, we must empower our women even as we bring perpetrators of rape incidences to book. A good number of them are often released by law enforcement agents whenever they are culpable. Let these offenders be jailed and paraded for all to see. Then the anomaly will be adequately eliminated as a societal ill which our State should be devoid of.”
Also speaking, Mr. Oyetunji Rasaki, the Baba Oloja Alaba-Rago Market, called for parents’ support in playing fundamental roles of supporting their children and wards with knowledge and skills to enhance uplifting values for the well-being of the girl-child.
He advocated for watchdogs on the activities of rapers, urging all to formally report once offenders are nabbed.
The highlight of the campaign was a distribution of branded souvenirs to participants with a particular note of calling 767 toll-free at instances of sexual and gender-based violence across the Lagos Metropolis.
