The Convener of Priceless Virtues International (PVI), Oluwatobi Ajibade, has called for collective efforts to curtail violence against the girl-child.
The activist said all must guard the girl-child and seek appropriate sanctions against those who violate their rights or molest them.
Ajibade spoke in Lagos at PVI’s debut empowerment forum, with the theme: Impact of Girl Child in Nation Building.
The activist noted that every unchecked act of violence against a child leaves damaging impact on her psychology, which invariably fosters societal menace.
She said: “Violence against the girl-child should not be encouraged; anybody doing that should be brought to book publicly and promptly.
This is because when you know that a girl-child is being violated or mutilated and you keep straining the process of bringing the person to book, it is not encouraging.
It is totally unfair. The psychological aspect of the female gender is very complex that once it’s being violated, it sticks to the head. If a 10-year-old child is being raped, the stigma remains with her for the rest of her life. Her psychology can be marred.”
Ajibade stressed the need for girls to maintain self-esteem with a view to developing their innate strength.
She said: “The first problem most teenagers have is self-esteem. Most teenagers are living in inferiority complex. They want to be who they are not; they want to compare themselves with who they are not and they are not looking inwards. They are not asking who they are and what they can do. In all of my programmes, I have been dealing with self-esteem and getting a dream. When you have a stable self-esteem and you have a dream, those are your driving forces for success.”