By Praise Chinecherem
Women and girls in Amanuke and Urum communities in Awka North Local Government Areas of Anambra State have resolved to always report cases of violence perpetrated against them by male counterparts to appropriate authorities.
They said they would no longer die in silence while passing through various forms of maltreatments, including harassments, intimidation and torture in hands of their husbands or other men.
The women spoke during a one-day sensitization outreach on by Gender Perspective and Social Development Center (GPSDC) under its Grounds for Change (G4C) project, tagged, “I’m more than just a human; I’m a woman with a voice.”
One of them, Mrs. Elizabeth Odogwu blamed increasing level of violence against women on ignorance, expressing optimism that knowledge acquired during the exercise would go a long way in addressing the menace.
“The supression of women are so much. But with this education, we now know our rights and what to do in such circumstances. Men, on their part will now be afraid to treat their wives like househelps,” she said.
Another participant, Regina Okoli said women’s inability to report cases of violence was not borne out of ignorance, but fear of consequences of such reports, especially on the culprits who might be their husbands or children.
“Some of us are aware of these privileges women enjoy. But, most times, we are relunctant in reporting our husbands or children when they misbehave because we don’t want them to go to prison,” she said.
A youth leader of the community, Ephraim Nwafor while thanking the group for choosing their community for the outreach, cautioned women against taking advantage of the privileges to suppress their husbands.
He said, “God created women to be under their husbands. But the case is different today. Most of the women are dangerous because they allow their contemporaries to deceive them.
“I lost my first wife because she was proving to be the breadwinner. She was not like that when we newly married. But her association with bad friends brought about the change of behaviour.”
Earlier, Executive Director, GPSDC, Mrs Eucharia Anekwe, took time to enumerate various forms of violence women could be subjected to, including rape, circumcision, stigmatization, among others with their attendant consequences.
She said the project was targeted at ending gender based violence for increased women’s leadership, enjoining women to call dedicated toll free number 08004004444 in case of any emergency, just as she assured them of quick response.
“Grounds for Change (G4C) is to address the urgent need to mitigate the high level of violence against women that usually leads to non-participation of women and girls in politics and leadership,” she said.
