Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu seeks religious leaders’ cooperation to end violence against women, girls

Bimbo Babatunde

First Lady of Lagos State, Dr Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu has called on religious and community leaders in the state to join the ongoing campaign to end violence against women and girls, especially rape and all forms of sexual and gender-based crimes.

Sanwo-Olu also urged parents and guardians to be watchful and do everything within their reach to protect their children and wards from sexual predators.

She spoke separately at the Interfaith Parley of Religious Leaders with Mr Governor, organized by the Lagos State Ministry of Home Affairs, held at Intercontinental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, and during the official flag-off of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health Week held at Ikorodu.

According to her, the first point of call in the communities, religious and community leaders have key roles to play in stepping up the fight against rape, defilement, and associated crimes.

She said: “There is a zero-tolerance to rape in Lagos State. We are serious about stamping out domestic violence, gender-based violence, and associated crimes in Lagos. We don’t pray for rape and similar crimes, but they do happen, and most times religious leaders and community leaders are the first points of contact.

“When you have such cases at hand, whoever has been attacked should not bathe, douche and they should not change their clothes. If the rapist used a condom, and you have it, do not destroy it but go straight to the hospital to have a test to preserve the evidence.

“If a child is raped and the mother quickly bathes for her, you have lost the evidence and you can’t win the case because you don’t have evidence. So, when you are talking to people in our communities, please mention these things.”

Alluding to the ongoing annual 16 days of activism against SGBV as championed by the United Nations, she informed that many things had been done in the state to fight the menace, including the new law that supports the Sex Offenders Register.

“I just came back from the meeting of the Nigeria Governors’ Wives Forum in Abuja this morning and the issue of Gender-Based Violence was heavily discussed. We are all united in the crusade against the menace.

“This is the era of speaking up loud and clear. Sexual harassment in the workplace, in the school, in the community must not be encouraged. These are some of the things we want our religious leaders to talk about.

“Honestly, it’s better for that child to fail than to surrender her body. There is no shame in failing. When you fail, it is an opportunity to do it again. We need to preach that when we are talking in our communities,” she said.

Speaking through a multi-sectoral stakeholders’ initiative coordinated by her office, she noted that it was gratifying that commendable feats had been achieved and the state has more Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARC) and funding to support survivors, among others.

She, however, urged those who have yet to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to do so promptly, adding it was better to be safe than sorry.

“There is a lot on vaccination, and I need to encourage people to go and get vaccinated.  It has been proven that even if you now get it, your immunity is being boosted so that you can fight it.

“Now, not much is known about the severity of the new Omicron variant, but a lot of research is going on. The bottom line is that people in our communities should get vaccinated.

“There is a lot of apprehension in our communities about vaccination, but I am a Medical Doctor and I know that it is better to be safe than sorry,” she said.