The Chief Executive Officer of Save Our Heritage Initiative, SOHI, May Ikokwu has advocated for the establishment of special courts for Gender-Based Violence, GBV cases across the country.
She told newsmen in Abuja that such special courts would expedite hearing and prosecution of GBV cases.
May explained that Gender-Based Violence is any violence directed against a person because of that person’s gender, which includes physical, sexual, mental or economic harm inflicted on a person because of socially ascribed power imbalances between males and females.
The Chief Executive Officer however said Conventional Courts had been slow in hearing GBV matters, thereby leading to denial of justice, adding that that the courts are slow in hearing cases of violence against women, ranging from rape and other abuses for whatever reasons.
It would be recalled that Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen had called for the establishment of the special courts while commemorating the 16 Days of Activism Against GBV in 2021.
She noted that such courts would ensure quick dispensation of justice for survivors, noting that intense advocacy had made many survivors of rape and GBV to make such violation of their rights public and were seeking legal and judicial assistance.
