Again, debate over sexual abuse of the girl child has taken the front burner with experts arguing that most rape cases are traceable to close relatives of the victims which consequently account for one out of four girls and one out of 10 boys being the latest statistics.
The gory details of female sexual abuse came to the fore on a live radio programme, ‘kampe woman’, Sunday as the discussion examined the negative impacts of the crime against women folk especially.
According to Director, Sexual Offences Awareness and Responses Initiative, Chinyere Eyo, the initiative was borne out of her childhood experience which she explained caused many sexual assaults, mainly from uncles and brothers to her father.
Mrs. Eyo equally stated that she was a victim of rape on two occasions as a university undergraduate. She said that, her experiences combined created her resolve to create awareness of the victimization of the girl-child, against strongly held taboos and feelings of stigmatization.
According to her, part of the training organized by her NGO is to ensure early awareness by parents and the girl-child, in order for them to take urgent steps, whenever their rights were about to be violated.
She called on girls and young ladies to be on their guard, not to allow anyone look down or take advantage of them. She also said that the girl-child must be able to speak out and report cases of sexual abuse and rape to the appropriate quarters.
Although, she noted that current statistics indicates that one out of five girls becomes a victim of rape, boy child equally face similar abuse in the hands of their victims, who may be older to manipulate them, Mrs. Chinyere Eyo stressed that the time is now to check high incident of rape cases in the society.
She challenged anyone, either boy or girl, who may have suffered any kind of sexual abuse to report and seek help. She warned that if anyone keeps quiet, no one will talk on their behalf. She called on youngsters to stand up for whatever they would like to achieve in life by being assertive.
The director of Sexual Offences Awareness and Responses Initiative, Mrs. Chinyere Eyo who is happily married a pastor and mother of four daughters tasked stakeholders to be united in order to successfully address high incident of crime against the weak and vulnerable in the society.
