The CANs, a social development and innovation organisation, has unveils a rape tracking app, known as UNSUB (or “unknown subject”) as part of measures to stem the rising cases of rapes and other forms of violence against women and girls.
Khadija Muhammad Awwal, the Project Lead, who made the announcement on Sunday in Abuja, also announces the first cohort of its six sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) champions for UNSUB.
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According to her, the app is a digital platform built to connect victims and survivors of SGBV to first responders and other stakeholders working to eliminate all forms of sexual and gender-based violence in Nigeria.
Describing UNSUB as an innovation borne out of a passion to create a data tool to not just track SGBV incidents and cases, but also follow through on providing practical access to justice for women and girls.
Khadija Muhammad Awwal said, “We strongly believe the fight against SGBV requires the collaborative efforts of all concerned and technology which has for decades now been providing lasting solutions to social problems is the best way to approach this fight against SGBV. Alone, there is only so much we can do while together we can do so much more.”
She said that the app also provides an avenue of collaboration among various SGBV-oriented initiatives, projects, and programs of multiple institutions and organizations via stakeholder mapping and systemic engagement.
Also the CANs COO, Joseph Badru, said, “It is on this note that we reiterate our call for the government to prioritise the fight against SGBV by enacting the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) and the Child Rights Acts across all the states. It is also important to implement other structural reforms that inhibit responses to, and prosecution of SGBV cases.”
The six champions are Ayodeji Bello, Initiative for Girls’ Right and Health Development (IGRHD), Osun State; Dorothy Njemanze, Dorothy Njemanze Foundation, Abuja; Hanna Aaron, Community Information and Advocacy Initiative, Katsina State; Funmilayo Oni, Irawo Foundation, Lagos State, Focus on Urban Slums; Priscilla Usiobaifo, BraveHeart Initiative for Youth and Women; and Omowunmi Ogunrotimi, Gender Mobile, Ekiti State.
Khadija Muhammad Awwal also said that the app is available for download on both the Google Play Store (for Android devices) and on the Apple App Store (for iOS and Apple devices).
“Unsub is a digital platform that connects victims of sexual and gender-based violence to stakeholders working in the space.
“Unsub creates a working synergy among the various initiatives, projects, and programs being pushed and executed by multiple institutions and organizations through stakeholder mapping and systemic engagement. Unsub also provides a system for activity and incidence tracking while housing a resource centre,” she said.