June 3, 2023

…Harps on gender equality, urges male victims of DSV to speak up

Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA) has urged men that are victims of domestic and sexual violence to break the culture of silence and speak up.

The Executive Secretary of DSVA, Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi gave the advice at the Launch of “The Hidden Crime, Violence Against Men” project, held in Alausa and designed to engage men on the need to realise that they can also be victims of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence.

Speaking further at the launch which had over 300 men in attendance, Vivour-Adeniyi told the participants that they play a crucial role in the fight against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in the State.

She said a recently concluded community engagement in over 10 Local Government Areas had revealed the need for enlightenment and focus on men who are victims or survivors of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence.

The Executive Secretary stated that the aim of the project is to ensure that the agency leaves no gender behind in its advocacy, preventive and response mechanisms, stressing that the Agency is determined to break the culture of silence which encourages Sexual and Gender-Based Violence to thrive in the society through the initiative.

She stressed further that the Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in his inaugural speech on the 29th of May, 2023, had informed Lagosians of the addition of PLUS into the T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda, stressing that the PLUS represents Social Inclusion, Gender Equality, and Youths as it has been identified that SGBV is one of the hindrances of gender equality.

Also speaking, the Agency’s Community Engagement Officer, Ikudaisi Oluwatobi urged men to speak out and report any case of sexual violence in their community to rid the state of the menace.

Ikudaisi, who stated that the Agency’s statutory mandate was to educate, sensitise and ensure that the government stance is engrained through its various programmes, said the purpose of the project launch was to increase awareness of the prevalence of Gender-Based Violence in Lagos.

The Assistant Secretary, Lagos State Parks and Garages Administrator (LASPAGA) Babatunde Semiu urged the agency to have its offices around each Local Government Area to effectively tackle the issue of gender-based violence to ensure the success of the project across the State.

Semiu noted that such an effort would help to reduce the growing trend of abusive cases in society, stressing that the initiative would also go far in preventing sexual and domestic violence cases against men.