Anthonia Duru
In furtherance of her efforts to end violence against women and girls in rural communities, Initiative for Women and Girls Right Advancement (IWOGRA) a non-governmental organization with support from ActionAid Nigeria through the ‘Strengthening the Capacities of Women’s Right Organizations to Combat Violence Against Women and Girls’ (SLOC VAWG) project establishes and trains the first Violence Against Women and Girls Community Response Teams (VAWG-CRT) in Chika, Jikwoyi And Dutse-Pe Community, Abuja.
The VAWG-CRT has equal female and male representation and they are trained on VAWG, law, conflict resolution and counseling.
Executive Director of IWOGRA, Nkechi Obiagbaoso-Udegbunam during the training explained that the VAWG-CRT is a rural response strategy that aims to reduce the incidence of violence against women and girls in FCT, particularly in rural communities, and protect women and girls rights through community based structures. This intervention is implemented by women, girls, men and boys from the communities selected and trained as activists deployed to work as community-based action teams to challenge community attitudes, spread understanding of law, counsel couples affected by intimate partner violence, and support with referrals to relevant social services providers.
The team also works with the traditional leaders of the communities to fashion out ways of addressing VAWG in the communities.
The teams engage community members; bridge the gap between the community and state agencies, and support women and girls access to justice. Recently, the organization trained the VAWG-CRT on Case Management and the provisions of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015 and drama performance was used by the VAWG-CRT to showcase how they will appropriately handle cases of VAWG.
Nkechi Obiagbaoso-Udegbunam also confirmed that through the VAWG-CRT, there has been an increase in reported cases of VAWG, reduction in women and girls experience of physical and sexual violence, and the communities’ members are better informed to desist from committing VAWG.
