by Joy Anigbogu,
As violence continues to escalate across the country, the Inclusive Friends Association (IFA) on Thursday listed effective tools for combating violence against Persons With Disability (PwD).
Independent reports that IFA with support from the Ford Foundation began the Amplifying Voices Project in February 2021 with the objective of training young persons (Males and Females) with disabilities from selected states of the federation as Fellows to combat Gender-Based Violence perpetrated against Persons with disabilities through dogged and strategic advocacies.
Speaking in Abuja, at the commencement of the training for the second cohorts on the amplifying voices project, Grace Jerry, the Executive Director of IFA, noted that following key findings the organization has come up with key recommendations that would effectively stamp out violence against people with disabilities in the country.
According to Jerry, these include enlightenment of more persons with disabilities, their family members and caregivers should be enlightened on what Disability Based Violence is.
“They should be enlightened to know what and what is not acceptable, what amounts to a violation, what to do when they are being violated and how to go about it.
Continuing, the IFA boss said: “Capacity of Law Enforcement Agencies should be built on disability issues with a view to eradicating attitudinal, physical or systemic barriers that persons with disabilities face when trying to access their services.
“Media outfits should take it upon themselves as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility to report issues of persons with disabilities so as to enlighten the public and make them more aware and concerned with issues of persons with disabilities such that they no longer stigmatize a survivor of any form of violence or their family, and are able to stand up and speak up for them from now on. Other Corporate organizations should sponsor media campaigns and projects that protect the rights of persons with disabilities.
“Government should strengthen social protection systems and mainstream such programs to cater for the needs of persons with disabilities. Government should also implement the 5% employment quota provided for in the Disability Act. Putting these and other poverty alleviation measures in place will reduce the vulnerability of persons with disabilities to Disability Based Violence and give them the means to seek for justice when the need arises.
“Education should be made free for persons with disabilities of school age. Their capacity should be built around defence mechanisms and how to seek redress. This will drastically reduce the silent culture among survivors because apart from the lack of resources or knowing the appropriate quarters to channel their complaints, a lot of persons with disabilities are afraid of not being able to express themselves or properly articulate their issues and would rather keep silent than embarrass themselves”.
