Mrs Oyetola Restates Commitment To Wipe Out Rape, Others From Osun

—Unveils VAPP Law

––Holds Town Hall Meeting For Effective Implementation

The wife of Osun State Governor, Mrs Kafayat Oyetola on Monday restated commitment of the state government to completely stamp out rape and other forms of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in the state.

The First Lady stated this while unveiling the Osun State Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act in Osogbo.

The VAPP bill was recently passed by the State House of Assembly and signed into law on October 11 this year by Governor Gboyega Oyetola.

The unveiling and public presentation which held at the Banquet Hall of the Government House in Osogbo, was part of the activities in Osun to mark the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.

In her address, Mrs Oyetola said the law became necessary due to certain noticeable gaps, especially with regards to the scope of violence and the weight of punishments in the various laws designed hitherto to tackle the issue of violence against women and girls.

According to her, the law covers issues rape, causing physical injury to persons, female genital mutilation, causing fear to persons, false statements against persons, isolation and abandonment of spouses, children and dependents, spousal battery, and political violence among others.

She recalled that the lockdown occasioned by COVID-19 which led to upsurge in the cases of rape and violence against women and girls, informed the advocacy of Nigeria Governors Wives for the law.

“Interestingly, just as women and girls suffered violence and abuse, information were also received that our boys and men also suffer psychological and sometimes physical violence, especially from intimate partners.

“The development led to meetings of the wives of the Governors in our country and we took a resolution to tackle the challenge through active engagements of stakeholders.

“Here in Osun, we triggered our advocacy and our campaigns. During the campaigns, we realized that there was a gap in the legal instruments available to tackle some of the gender-based violence that occur or could possibly occur. Yes, we had various laws that had been passed by the House Assembly such as the Criminal Code Cap 34, Volume 2 of 2002, the 2013 Protection Against Domestic Violence law and the Child Rights Law of the State of Osun 2007.

“All these laws were designed to tackle the issue of violence against women and girls as well as our men, who also suffer gender and domestic violence in some forms. However, because of certain noticeable gaps, especially with regards to the scope of violence and the weight of punishments, there was a need to further strengthen the laws through the passage of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act.” She stated.

The First Lady however commended the Speaker, Timothy Owoeye and members of the State House of Assembly as well as the Governor for making the law a reality.

She then urged all stakeholders including members of the public to respect law by actively avoiding every form of offences captured therein and reporting same to law enforcement officers when they are violated.

In a bid for the effective implementation of the law, Mrs Oyetola also held a town hall meeting with members of the CSOs, security agencies, traditional rulers, faith-based groups, members of the gender management committee and other stakeholders.

CityMirrorNews reports that the programme is in collaboration with Westminster Foundation for democracy.

The essence was to create more awareness on the law and to intimate the public of implications of going contrary to the provisions of the law.