- Introduce mechanism for swift prosecution
Attorney-General of the Federation AGF and Minister of Justice Lateef Fagbemi and his counterpart in the Education Ministry, Prof. Tahir Mamman have expressed discomfort over the prevalence of cases of gender-based violence in nation’s schools.
Fagbemi and Mamman, who blamed the development partly on the absence of strict and swift prosecution, said there urgent need for astakeholders to collaborate on ways to address the challenge.
Both ministers spoke in Abuja at the launch of Standard Operating Procedure for the Prosecution of Perpetrators of School- Related Gender-Based Violence (SRGBV) cases in Nigeria, produced by both ministries, with funding from United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
Fagbemi said the launch of the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) represents a significant milestone in addressing SRGBV effectively.
He added: “By providing clear guidelines and protocols for the prosecution of perpetrators, we aim to streamline the legal process, enhance coordination among relevant stakeholders, and ultimately deliver justice for victims.
“The SOP is to ensure a proper response to this menace particularly accountability of perpetrators through successful prosecutions with a multi-sectorial response to guide Schools in handling cases.
“The issue of SRGBV is one that strikes at the very core of our collective humanity.
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“Victims of SRGBV are often left without any form of justice against their abusers as violence of this nature is still largely shrouded in a culture of silence and victim blaming.”
Mamman noted that SRGBV in all forms constitute a major concern in school attendance and retention, particularly at the lower level of schools in the country.
The Education Minister was optimistic that the SOP will go a long way in stopping occurrences and provide strict and swift way to prosecute offenders.
He assured the citizens of his ministry’s support for the application of the SOP by engaging in sensitisation.
“People should know that there is a process, a speedy mechanism for speedy is available,” he said, adding that the ministry plans to distribute the SOP to all schools.
This measure, he added, will enable people to be aware that there a measure in place to deal with perpetrators of “these unholy and despicable practices”.