Ekiti State on Friday recorded another milestone in gender empowerment, as Gov. Kayode Fayemi signed the recently passed Gender-based Violence Prohibition Bill into law.
Presenting the bill to the governor at the State Executive Council chambers in Ado-Ekiti, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Dr Adewale Omirin, noted that Ekiti would be the first state in the country to domesticate the legislation.
Fayemi assented to the bill, noting that all acts of violence resulting in physical, sexual and psychological harm or suffering to women had been captured in the law.
He said that one out of every five women had been physically or sexually abused at one time or the other, pointing out that the trend was visible in all societies regardless of income, class and culture.
The governor said that gender-based violence arose ``from our patriarchal system which, from time immemorial, has exerted control over women and it affects the physical and psychological integrity of our women''.
According to him, human rights violations are prevalent among women than men, both in the public and private spheres.
``Most of these violent acts are frequently associated with the unwritten traditions and practices that have devastating impact on their health and wellbeing.
``Violence against women devastates lives, fractures communities, dissociates societies and stalls development in the home and in workplaces.''
Fayemi said it was as a result of these considerations that the state government moved fast to combat the trend by putting in place the new law.
He said the state government would continue to protect human rights and ensure that justice took its course against those who committed crimes.
The governor, therefore, urged all stakeholders to get more involved in stamping out the ugly trend of violence and abuse against women and the girl child.
``Now that a legislation is in place, the greater challenge is to raise the level of consciousness among our people that the maximum weight of the law will be brought against domestic violence,''
In her reaction at the ceremony, the wife of the governor, Chief Bisi Fayemi, lauded the lawmakers for passing the bill and expressed the hope that other states would take urgent steps to domesticate it. (NAN)
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