Khadijah Suleiman Saulawa is a graduating student at the Federal College of Education, Katsina who recently launched the Queen Dijah Women and Children Awareness Initiative.
In an interview with the Daily Trust, she said her Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) works to help women and children who are daily abused and cannot find a platform to seek for justice because they are afraid of being stigmatised.
Saulawa told our correspondent that she is out to fill in gaps so that people who are abused can come out to seek justice than laying fallow and resort to hiding.
She said, people are not forthcoming in reporting cases of rape for fear of the unknown, stigmatization and not knowing the relevant office or authorities to table the matter.
“I observed and discovered that some irregularities and gaps that need to be filled to ensure a safe society for us all. I felt there is need to correct those irregularities through sensitization and awareness creation hence the need for the NGO,” she said.
Instances of the irregularities she said include rape which she said is rampant in the state. “This is something to be worried about. We are going to be working around these to ensure we have a safe society for the women and children.
“In Katsina, the police have recorded rape cases but many are not prosecuted because those victims fear to come out in the open for their cases to be dealt with,” she explained.
She said rape victims would need medical attention for proper check and examination but due to fear of stigmatization, parents of such victims keep mute. Saulawa said, “The child might have contracted diseases which the check-up would have detected earlier but is left to suffer for it in the future.”
Part of the NGO’s role is to create awareness for people to report rape cases.
“We will create awareness to the parents to report their rape cases to us upon which we would take it up and seek for justice,” she noted.
Join Daily Trust WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You.
