Nigerians have been urged to ensure they join the fight to end gender-based violence against persons with disabilities The call was made by the minister of women affairs and social development in Abuja on Thursday, March 10 Pauline Tallen said perpetrators of gender-based violence against PWDs are evil and would end up as beasts.
The minister of women affairs and social development, Pauline Tallen, on Thursday, March 10, called on Nigerians not to take advantage of persons with disabilities when it comes to issues of sexual and gender-based violence.
Tallen while speaking at the Investiture Award of Excellence on 66 Young Persons With Disabilities in Nigeria said SGBV is the worst crime against humanity and more dangerous is that it is committed against PWD. The event which was attended by Legit.ng reporter was organised by the Inclusive Friends Association(IFA) in Abuja.
Warning against continuous SGBV against PWD, Tellen said she gets quite emotional when she receives reports of SGBV against PWD.
He words: “These are heartless mindless people who could go an extra mile to rape those that are we some form of disability and I am happy that inclusive friends have taken it upon themselves to fight it.
“I want to exclude all the bad people from the society and rapists or anybody that inflicts any form of gender-based violence on any woman worst of all those with disabilities will not leave well.”
Punishment for perpetrators of SGBV against PWD Continuing, Tallen said God will surely punish perpetrators of GBV against PWD while stating that these criminals would end up like beasts.
She added: “Don’t take advantage of these people because if you take advantage of them, you are inviting the anger of God on you, I warn you and I appeal to those fond of that evil to desist from it.
“These are people that need our love, they need our support, they need our understanding they need to live happy in the society.”
“I join you to celebrate the 66   advocates with disabilities that  will be awarded today with Award of Excellence in their efforts to fight gender-based violence and to support those that have been abused.’’
Selection of fellows to fight against SGBV against PWD Also speaking, the executive director of IFA, Grace Jerry said that the organisation selected fellows to combat GBV perpetrated against PWDs through support from the Ford Foundation.
According to Jerry, the project – Amplifying Voices commenced in February 2021 with the aim of training young persons with disabilities from various states across Nigeria. She said that previous engagements with PWDs showed that high levels of discrimination, stigma and stereotypes played significant roles in increasing the culture of silence among survivors of various forms of violence.
Jerry noted:
“This fear has resulted in cases of violence against persons with disabilities largely unreported and has also rendered such survivors voiceless and invisible.
“IFA therefore saw the need to build a network of youth advocates with disabilities and improve their capacity to spotlight and innovatively address incidences of gender-based violence against women and girls with disabilities across the country.”
Explaining further, Jerry noted that two youth advocates with disabilities were selected from two states in each of the six geopolitical zones with the highest cases of GBV recorded during the COVID 19 pandemic for the first and second cohorts.
The third cohort, she added had 20 participants each from Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory respectively.
Jerry said that key findings revealed that ignorance of PWDs and their family on handling some of these issues in one way or the other led to violence or poverty.
She further called for the enlightenment of PWDs, their family members and caregivers on the intricacies of disability-based violence while recommending that education should be made free for PWDs of school age.
