By Ada Festus
Lagos State Chapter of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) has called for speedy judicial process of rape and other gender-based violence cases ravaging the country.
The State Council Chairperson, Comrade Adeola Ekine made the call on the hinge of one week NAWOJ Nationwide campaign being coordinated by NAWOJ Chairpersons in all the States in Nigeria to speak up against rape and other gender-based violence from 15th to 21st of June, 2020.
Ekine stressed that while castration or death penalty might be good punishment for perpetrators, there is need to look into the case of delayed trial and prolonged judicial process.
“Often times, perpetrators are encouraged to continue because they feel they can get away with it. How many rapists have been convicted so far?” she asked.
She commended the actions of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP by publishing a sex offender register.
“NAPTIP recently published sex offender register which identifies convicted rapists in the country, it is a step in the right direction but how many people are on that list?
Can you compare the figure of those that have been convicted to the number of rape cases that we’ve heard about in the past?
“So, if the penalty is castration or death sentence, but justice is delayed, how will the victims get justice?.
“We need to ensure that our judicial process is not delayed so that victims can get justice as fast as possible,” she added.
She also stressed the need for parents to raise their boys to become responsible adults.
“We need to raise our boys to be responsible adults. As we are instilling discipline in our girls, we should do same for our boys too, as such they won’t become delinquent and rapists.
Comrade Ekine added that parents must go all out to have conversations with their sons daily almost on everything possible.
According to her, friends and the types of music our sons listen to must be filtered to ensure their spirits are not contaminated.
