Speak up if you are harassed, FCTA urges students

The FCT Mandate Secretary for Women Affairs Secretariat, Adedayo Benjamins-Laniyi, has advised students in the territory to always speak up whenever they are maltreated or assaulted sexually.

She gave the advice when she led over 310 students drawn from the 62 wards of the six area councils on a road walk to campaign against Gender Based Violence (GBV) in the nation’s capital.

She explained that the road walk show was an advocacy initiative of the FCTA to commemorate the 16days activism against GBV, to create an awareness that such act will not be tolerated in the FCT.

She said the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, is currently championing ‘ FCT Day of the Adolescent Girl Child’ in the territory, towards creating safe space for them.

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According to her, “ This will become a national event by next year. But it is starting here in Abuja, with Nyesom Wike as the super champion of he for she for adolescent girls in the FCT.”

While calling on GBV Victims to call the phone number 080 78 11 11 26,  Mrs Benjamin appealed to parents, community leaders, who prevent their wards or subjects from speaking out because of stigma, to rescind from such act to enable government nip the menace of GBV in the bud.

“In FCT, to orange our world, means to orange the hope of the adolescent girl child. It’s to teach our young girls to speak up and not to allow anyone to intimidate them…Please call, speak- out, report, do not hold back, there is help. We, at FCTA Women Affairs Secretariat, has Mr Project backing to bring renewed hope to the people.

Mrs Laniyi- Benjamin, who further pointed out that provocation bring about rash reaction, encouraged men and women alike to guard their mouth and temperance in the face of provocation, to avert violation of human rights.

“We are concerned about inclusion in terms of gender. Our Agenda on gender is not to course division or stigmatize the boy child, it is rather to create a holistic environment where the boy respect the girl child and the girl child respect the boy child, and they together have an inter-gender representation of the renewed hope of this nation in leadership “

Some students that participated in the road walk on GBV campaign, thanked the organizers for the privileged, and pledged to step down the knowledge garnered.