Olushola Omogbehin
A child protection specialist with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Victor Atuchukwu has expressed concerns over the attitude of some Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp officials using their positions to take advantage of vulnerable girls and women dislocated by conflicts.
Atuchukwu made this revelation during a meeting convened by the JASPI Health and Gender Development Initiative, in conjunction with UNICEF, to create strategies for the prevention of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) as well as Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) in Makurdi, Benue State, over the weekend.
“Gender-based violence target individuals because of their gender, while sexual exploitation involves abusing the vulnerable by those in positions of power or trust for sexual or financial gain”, he explained.
Reacting, the Executive Director of JASPI, Mrs Patricia Suswam, who expressed concern over the rising cases of GBV in displaced persons’ camps across the state, said her organisation partnered with UNICEF to boost coordination among ministries and agencies in order to arrest the situation in the state.
“The main focus is to protect IDP communities and ensure that government take decisive measures to tackle it because there are unacceptable rising cases of gender-based violence in displacement camps across the state”, she emphasized.
However, the Officer-in-Charge of the Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Centre at the Benue Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Hafsat Ayavga, admonished visitors to Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps to be moderate in their dressings during visitation to the camps.
“Visitors to the camps must appear to be empathetic, humble, and as equals rather than as charity cases. This has been creating discomfort and reinforcing social divides among the vulnerable people. We should treat them as same humans. No discrimination. Avoid stereotype, not shouting when they bring issues to you,” she urged.
The Director of Women Affairs, Mrs Magdalene Andor, also stressed the need for ongoing sensitization campaigns to curb SGBV, adding that the problem is not confined to rural communities.
“SGBV is not only in the villages. It is rampant here in Makurdi, the state capital. I appeal for consistent community outreach and engagements,” she admonished.
