By Ruth Oginyi
Alliances for Africa (AfA) With support from the African Women Development Fund (AWDF), yesterday called on the Ebonyi state government to do all it can to commission at least one safe home for survivors of GBV in the state.
AFA made the call in Abakaliki during a strategic meeting on Popularizing the “Kpoturum” web application amongst civil society organizations and state actors in Ebonyi State noting that absence of a safe house is hampering justice for survivors of gbv.
Kpoturum (call on me) is a web application designed for reporting GBV cases in the southeast zone, providing services and referrals for the survivors.
Faith kalagbor, program officer, Alliance for Africa while speaking with newsmen in Abakaliki explains that providing a safe home for survivors of GBV will help them to speak up and perpetrators brought to book.
She further calls on traditional rulers in the state to work with the state gbv task force team in eliminating the scourge.
“we conveyed a meeting with state actors and CSOs in Ebonyi state to popularize a web application that has been developed to help document, improve cases, and help in referral cases of gbv southeast.
“The application is expected to bridge the gap between the survivors, caregivers, and service providers in the state, however, in the course of the meeting challenges hampering access to justice by survivors were highlighted.
One of the challenges is the absence of shelter (safe home) which is the responsibility of the government. It is their responsibility.
” So we are using this opportunity to call on the state government to speedily commission a shelter for counseling the gbv survivors. And it is not only going to help gbv survivors alone it will help people who are not working to access jobs because once that is commissioned the state government will be mandated to employ workers so it is going to solve two problems in one strategy.
AFA noted that It’s unfair that a woman will be abused to the point of death and when service providers intervene you see her being threatened in the community but if there is a safe house she be away from the environment where she was abused.
“Also, we are using this medium to call on traditional institutions to collaborate with the gbv taskforce team to ensure that society is free from violence. Their corporation is very important. When they allow a perpetrator to go free after harming someone, they are encouraging that perpetrator to do more but when they work with the taskforce team gbv will be eliminated and with their collaboration response services will increase in the state.
Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Obichukwu, Nkechinyere Oginyi, Nawoj Chairperson in Ebonyi, and Ibinna Marcilina from the ministry of health among other participants, urged the people to utilize the web app to report cases as their identity is well protected and survivors will be made to face the law.
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