By Chris Agbo,
“Research have shown that Women and girls with disabilities (WGWDs) are more vulnerable to GBV especially sexual violence due to the multiple barriers they face in accessing justice services due to lack of protective legislation, negative attitude of service providers, inaccessible facilities, poor knowledge of their rights and poverty. Most often, their experiences of violence remain unreported due to fear of increased stigma and verbal abuse”.
As part of Disability Rights Advocacy Center (DRAC)s Policy to Practice project which is supported by the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption program, implemented by the British Council and funded by the European Union, DRAC organized a two-day stakeholders meeting for the validation of a toolkit for Disability-Inclusive Service Delivery (DISD) in Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Services.
In order to address the above concerns, DRAC kickstarted the process of developing a toolkit for DISD in SGBV services in Nigeria. They worked with various stakeholders through series of workshops, surveys, key interviews etc. where consensus was reached on the priorities, goals and objectives, and the main thrust of the toolkit. Consultants then worked independently to develop a first draft and subsequently a Technical Working Group meeting where a near-final draft was developed.
The Executive Director, DRAC, Dr. Irene Ojiugo Patrick-Ogbogu in her welcome remark said that women and girls with disabilities are faced with all sorts of SGBV and they are not visible because even when reported, many of the service providers are not equipped to respond to women and girls with disabilities. DRAC therefore carried out several consultations which involved interactions with persons with disabilities, especially women and girls and also service providers to better understand the current situation with regards to disability-inclusive SGBV service delivery and the desired outcomes when services related to SGBV are rendered.
She stated that that toolkit will be an important resource to all service providers and justice actors and will change the general approach to disability-related SGBV cases and improve access to justice for women and girls with disabilities who face violence.
“That is why we brought together stakeholders to look at the document, identify the gaps, check whether the document can address the issues it was initiated for, if it is what was agreed during the consultation meetings. Lets put in our best in reviewing and validating this toolkit, to ensure that when it is finalized and disseminated, persons with disabilities especially women and girls would be able to access services in an equal basis with others”. she concluded.
After a brief presentation of the toolkit, the consultants shared participants into thematic groups and assigned corresponding sections for their review.
After a tedious process of document review, participants then unanimously validated the document, certifying that the toolkit captures core details that would improve service delivery for women and girls with disabilities in SGBV settings while serving as a resource for all stakeholders.
DRAC, with the consultants will be working to finalize the document putting into consideration the submissions made by the stakeholders.
After finalization, the toolkit will then be launched and disseminated to the public. There are also robust plans to train service providers on the use of the toolkit.
Stakeholders at the validation meeting include representatives of some MDAs such as the Federal Ministries of Justice, Health, Education, Hospitals Management Board, FCT Health Secretariat, Social Development Secretariat, NAPTIP, National Human Rights Commission, Lagos State DVSRT, FCT SEB, UBEB, National Disability Commission, etc., Special Schools, OPDs and CSOs.
