By Aisha Gambo

The Empowering Women for Excellence Initiative (EWEI), an NGO with support from the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, has begun a community sensitisation to mobilise men against Gender Based Violence (GBV) in Kaduna communities.

The NGO, under its Our Safe Spaces (OSS) project conducted a seminar for men on Thursday in Unguwan Romi and Unguwan Dosa communities in Kaduna.

Egbe Uche Brown, the Senior Programme Officer Communication, and the Focal Person for the OOS project, said that the seminar was aimed at enlightening men on GBV, preventive measures and how to respond to it when it occurs.

“As an organisation, we know that 95 per cent of perpetrators of GBV are men and boys. That is why we are sensitising them to support and protect women and girls against GBV.

“We believe if they are well informed about the ills of GBV, they will be able to support us and together we can kick against GBV and all forms of exploitation in our communities’’, he said.

He added that the participants were related to some female beneficiaries of the project so that we will all be on the same page in ridding our communities of all forms of violence against women and girls.

Earlier, Mr Benjamin Yunana-Maigari, a Gender Specialist, said that gender-based violence in communities were fuelled traditional practices.

Yunana-Maigari added that GBV was not limited to sexual violence, adding that even favouring a male child over a female child was a form of GBV that deprived the girl child her basic right like education based on her gender.

He equally said that Female Genital Mutilation, forced marriage, physical and sexual abuse were popular GBV practiced in Nigeria.

He urged participants to allow their female wards, wives, and sisters to engage in entrepreneurship and education so they can be able to contribute to nation building.

Some participants thanked EWEI for organising the programme, describing it as an eye opener to issues relating to men-triggered violence against women and girls.

One of theme, Malam Umar Tanimu a traditional title holder in Unguwan Dosa community, said that the seminar was timely and educative, adding that he had learnt about existing laws to prosecute GBV perpetrators.

“As a traditional leader I would enlighten my people especially in mosques and other places of worship’’, he said.

Another participant, Rev. Steven Samson- Ibrahim said that he had learnt more on GBV and would step down the information to his church members and the people in the community.