The African Human Development
Centre (AHDC) working in collaboration with ActionAid Nigeria has lamented the
ordeals of domestic violence and other human rights abuses against women in
Nigeria.
Speaking after
undertaking a fact-finding tour to some rural communities in Akwa Ibom State to
ascertain the level of social and cultural infringement meted on the
women-folks, stakeholders of the group urged government to intervene.
According to the
Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AHDC, Prof. Gabriel Umoh,
revealed that “a lot of women pass through harrowing experiences every other
day especially in rural communities”.
Umoh, who doubles as
the Director in-charge at the Waste Management Studies, University of Uyo
(UNIUYO), Akwa Ibom State, listed crimes committed against women to include
“rape, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), shaving of hair and oath-taking at
husband’s death, exclusion from family inheritance and other harmful
practices”.
Calling on reforms to
be initiated against these age-long practices in some Akwa Ibom societies, the
professor of Agricultural and Development Economics, said “such idignities
demean the womanhood”, adding that it was time such awful practices were
stopped against women.
The shocking
discoveries, he explained were the face hand experiences faced by rural
community women in their areas of research spread across the three Senatorial
Districts of Uyo, Eket and Ikot Ekpene.
Also speaking, Mrs.
Suwaiba Jubrin, head of ActionAid Nigeria in-charge of the Local Rights and
Partnarship programme, stressed the need for a holistic action plan by civil
society groups and government to stem the scourge.
Besides, he enjoined
the women and other victims of rights abuses to always stand up and protest
“where you feel your rights were being infringed upon”.
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