Miss Faith Philip, the former Miss Gbagy, in Bwari, FCT, has urged the Federal Government to introduce stiff penalties against culprits of sexual abuse of the girl child, to reduce such crime in the society.
Philip, a 2015/2016-Gbagy-beauty- queen, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Bwari, Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
She said that the call had become imperative because child rape and child abandonment had become prevalent in the area.
According to her, hardly a day passes without such negative development being reported in the media.
“Even the courts, often described as the last hope of the common man, are daily inundated with cases of rape of minors.
“Sexual abuse of the girl child is on the increase; government must establish stiff penalties against anyone caught abusing the girl child sexually, to serve as deterrents for others.”
Philip blamed the development on poor funding of the girl- child education, which hindered the teaching of female children on preventive measures against sexual abuse.
She identified early marriage, poor sanitation and shortage of female teachers as some of the factors militating against the girl-child’s development in the community.
The beauty queen urged government to put measures in place to improve the girl-child education, and to tackle the various problems associated with sexual abuse.
“To be able to tackle issues that surround the abuse of the girl child, government should remove barriers hindering the continuation of education after such girls had been delivered of their babies.
“Government must also provide incentives for the girl child that will motivate them to complete their primary and secondary education,’’ Philip said.
