Anthonia Duru
In their continued and unrelenting effort to reduce cases of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), the Initiative for Women and Girls Right Advancement (IWOGRA), a non-governmental organisation and with support from ActionAid Nigeria implemented a ‘Capacity Building Workshop for Men and Boys to Challenge Cultural and Social Norms that Promotes Violence Against Women and Girls’ under the ‘Strengthening the Capacities of Local Women’s Rights Organisations to Combat Violence Against Women and Girls (SLOC-VAWG)’ Project.
Executive Director of IWOGRA, Nkechi Obiagbaoso-Udegbunam, addressed the participants on why the project is being embarked on. According to her, the training is to change their perception and belief on cultural and social norms that promotes violence against women and girls and get them to challenge those norms.
She intimated the participants about the engagements the organisation had with the women and girls of the community and the various forms of violence the women and girls identified and urged them to commit to reducing and eradicating all forms of violence against women and girls, and collaborate with the women to end violence against women and girls.
The Programme Officer, Sa’adatu Adamu, elucidated the objectives of the meeting to be to build the capacity of men and boys in Chika Community to understand violence against women and girls, how it manifest and how they can challenge the social and cultural norms that promotes VAWG in their community and take ownership of the campaign and become allies against VAWG.
The resource person for the activity, Peter Obi, encouraged the men and boys to open up as the activity is an open space for learning and strategising on how to challenge VAWG, in Chika community.
The chief of Chika community who graced the programme charged the men and boys to work together with IWOGRA to end VAWG in the community.
He appealed with them to have discipline in the way they see and treat women and girls and there should be change of character and perceptions.
Furthermore, he urged the men and boys to step down the training in their various homes, associations, community and worship centres.
During the session, some of the men and boys admitted to committing VAWG and they mentioned most of the VAWG being perpetrated in their community. They also listed out rape, beating and maltreatment of women as the common forms.
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They also proffered solutions to the different types of violence they mentioned. Also, they made mention that the workshop made them to realise the different forms of violence committed against women and girls, and IWOGRA has enlightened them more on how to be agents for change and allies against VAWG.
The selection of men and boys volunteers to lead the campaign on VAWG in Chika community was done and they were given messaging posters to be disseminated in strategic points in their community.
Obiagbaoso-Udegbunam commended the participants for their willingness to end violence against women and girls.
She urged them to be change agents and not see this movement as a fight against them but rather as an opportunity to end violence in their community so that their women and girls can live without fear of abuse and violence.
