Federal Government and some Non-Governmental Organisations NGOs have decried increasing cases of Sexual and Gender Based Violence SGBV against women and girls in spite of the domestication of extant laws in the country.
The Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, while describing Nigeria as one with high rate of Female Genital Mutilation FGM cases, said such harmful practice persists in spite of a number of reforms and laws to curb the trend.
She said violence and harmful practices endanger the lives of women and girls, hence the need for all states of the federation to domesticate laws and implement them to serve as deterrent and eliminate it in totality.
According to her, in spite of government and partners’ positive interventions, high and community level advocacy, capacity building of circumcisers, including provision of alternate income for circumcisers, the practice of FGM still persists.
These stakeholders expressed their divergent views in separate interviews with Newsmen on the sidelines of various events recently held to commemorate the 2021 International Day of the Girl-Child in Abuja, an annual occasion marked on October 11 to raise awareness on challenges of the girl-child.
