By Danjuma Attah, Gombe
Stakeholders and some survivors of Gender Based Violence (GBV) in Gombe State have revealed why the menace has persisted in many communities despite the domestication of the State’s Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law, 2022.
Most of the stakeholders decried the lack of awareness and ignorance of the public on the existence of the law which provides justice for anyone who has experienced any form of GBV. This is coupled with the ‘culture’ of silence by survivors and relatives that has enabled the cases to rise.
This revelation came to light during a two day Capacity Strengthening of Women Leaders in Gombe State organized by Foundation for Community Empowerment Initiative (FOCEI) in partnership with Women Aid Collective (WACOL), where the Team Lead, Mr Benjamin Maina, emphasized the need to address the menace of GBV in Gombe State because of the growing trend.
He said, despite the growing awareness, many women and cultural leaders have remained ignorant of their responsibilities in addressing GBV issues which is the reason for the training that aims at enhancing gender equality in decision making process, particularly for women. 
The two day training was executed through professional resource persons who enhanced the knowledge of participants on GBV, mobilization of Christian Women, CSO’s for advocacy on gender equality and inclusiveness, built skills to help in challenging dangerous/harmful traditional practices, facilitated and built networks, enhanced their capacities for designed and tailored action as well as strengthened organisational capacity, programming and monitoring among many others.
Some of the participants who spoke to our Correspondent expressed delight at being part of the training thus, thanking FOCEI for the opportunity of getting to know why issues of GBV, particularly rape cases have continued to soar high in Gombe State.
A survivor (names withheld) who was raped including her daughter at different occasions revealed to our Correspondent how painful the experience was and how happy she is for the existence of a referral process that seeks to bring succour and justice for them.
According to her, “I was personally raped by someone and I never got justice because I am a ‘nobody’ in the community, and barely a month after the case, I saw the perpetrator walking freely in the community.
“I felt like killing him myself because it was so painful but I just left everything to God. My teenage daughter was also raped too. Unfortunately, she has a mental retard issues which the perpetrator took advantage. He met her in front of the house playing and asked her to escort him and that was how he had forced intercourse with her”, the woman painfully revealed.
She was however happy with the opportunity that FOCEI has offered her of knowing what to do. “Before now, I only report to the Police or go to court but I am now aware of many authorities such as human rights, lawyers, and many other channels of complaints until I came for this training. There are many cases of GBV and I thank FOCEI for the opportunity of learning and I’ll spread it in my community”, she stressed.
Another participant, Hajara Abdullahi who lives in Gombe town said, she will educate her community, particularly the woman folks about the pathways of seeking justice whenever there are issues of GBV.
“I will also enlighten my neighbours on the need to speak out whenever a case has occurred. I’ve also learnt something very important which is, whenever there is a case of molestation or assault, the first thing is to draw the survivor close, avoid questions that apportion blame on the survivor so that she can give exact information”, she stated.
While thanking FOCEI immensely, for the enlightenment and training, she said the VAPP law will only help if people speak out because cases are covered and justice is not served. She called on the public to persistently follow up cases using different media platforms untill justice is served.
End.
