FIDA Bemoans High Rate Of Violence Against Women, Children – TheNigerialawyer

The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) has
bemoaned what it described as the “alarming high rate of violence
against women and children in Africa and Nigeria in particular.

Mrs. Victoria Awomolo, SAN, Regional Vice President (West &
North Africa) FIDA, stated this in a press briefing with judiciary
correspondents in Abuja, Wednesday.

The media parley, according to Mrs Awolomo, was part of
activities preparatory to Nigeria’s hosting of FIDA Africa Regional
Congress 2019, from the 11-15th October, 2019.

Speaking on gender and sexual violence; particularly the rape of
minors, rising wave of incest as well as the need to create a level
playing field in politics for women, Mrs Awomolo said the status of
women and children in Africa has not changed.

“The status of women and children has not changed much in
Africa. We still have many cases of discrimination against women in
the homes, cultural practices don’t favour us, in workplaces, we
are also discriminated upon.

“The one that is in the front burner now, is gender violence”
she stated.

“Gender violence is becoming rampant now, particularly the case
of rape. Minors are being defiled on a daily basis, and we have to
create awareness to put an end to this dastardly act.

“You now see fathers raping their daughters, and uncles raping
infants; a child as young as 6 months is now being raped and one
wonders why” Awomolo said.

Mrs Awomolo, who was elected in 2017 at the FIDA Convention in
Bahamas, said the theme of the Africa regional congress is, “The
growth of Women and Children in Africa Beyond Rhetoric”.
What informed the theme, she said, was the many discussions on the
status of women and children in Africa, particularly Nigeria.

She said the FIDA Africa Regional Congress “will equally lend
voice to the fact that African women have grown beyond just being
in the kitchen to much more.

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