Don wants govts, NGOs to tackle sexual exploitation

Ini Billie, Uyo

Governments at all levels and Non-Governmental Organisations have been urged to be actively involved in the campaign against sexual exploitation.

Professor of African-American Literatures and Gender Studies, Prof. Imoh Abang Emenyi, who stated this at the weekend during the 100th Inaugural lecture of the University of Uyo on the topic, “Subjecting the Subject to a Dialogue of Voices” said sanctions should be spelt out for sexual defaulters.

Emenyi explained that female exploitation has been a universal phenomenon over the centuries that needs to be corrected, and urged women to endeavour to tell their story until it attracts the attention of the government.

“The impact of according to the female to the status of the Other and maintaining the status quo for centuries have helped to transform her consciousness from a helpless victim to a critical participant in the reconstruction of the society.

“Since female exploitation is a universal phenomenon, female self-assertion is an intervention that challenges patterns of relationality to emphasize human essence above male dominance.

“Government and Non-Governmental Organizations should be actively involved in the campaigns against all kinds of sexual exploitation and sanctions spelt out for defaulters.

“Women should make concerted efforts to tell the female story and stay committed to it till they attract the attention of the government,” she stated.

Emenyi emphasised that no sex is more important than the other, and should work to complement each other, saying it can destroy competition associated with gender acrimony.

“Sex is not a correct determinant of human attainment and it should not be used to measure achievement; if the conditions are right, both the female and male human beings have capacities for maximum impact in all spheres of life.

“Black women, both in Africa and the Diaspora, should adopt an Afrocentric perspective to female self-assertion by negotiating for space to give the female prominence in human epistemology, without dismantling the positive values that sustain the society,” she stated.