Women’s Rights and Health Project (WRAHP) has identified sexual and gender-based violence as one of the challenges facing People Living with Disabilities in the state.
The organisation made this known at a community town hall meeting held with PLWDS in Agbado-Oke recently. According to them, the group suffers much exclusion from societal benefits and often has their rights trampled upon with inadequate access to justice.
Precious Eberechukwu, Community Representative for WRAHP who spoke on behalf of the Executive Director, Bose Ironsi said, “We are here to speak with people living with disabilities so that they recognise the laws regarding their protection against domestic violence. We identified different challenges they go through and we want to make sure that they access justice. When they see something, they should say something, they should not feel that because of their condition, they cannot report cases of abuse.
“We have seen many cases of them being abused and some of them sharing their experiences said that sometimes they go to the Police Station and the cases are turned against them probably because they cannot express themselves very well and most times they don’t have the financial ability. But we still believe that they should break the silence on issues of sexual and gender based violence and we are also using this opportunity to call on the Lagos State Government to look into their plight and make sure that they are included in their programmes and their rights protected. The security agencies should be aware that these people also have rights, and it is their duty to protect everyone.”
Turkson Abigail, Chairperson of Agbado-Oke Physically Challenged Persons added, “I feel that this programme is necessary because many of them are facing sexual and gender based violence but are unable to speak up because they feel ashamed about it. Some of them on getting to the Police Station, the treatment they receive is not always encouraging, so they would rather keep it to themselves. We have had cases like that especially during the Covid-19 pandemic when due to the lockdown, many men turned their wives to punching bags but if you advise them to report, they will decline, they are afraid of reporting, they are afraid of losing their marriages.”
The programme is executed with support from the European Union, funded by Rule of Law and Anti-corruption (RoLAC) and managed by the British Council in Nigeria and is being facilitated across the six LCDAs in Alimosho LGA, Lagos.
