An NGO, Community Awareness Development Initiative (CADI), on Monday mobilised 60 Imams and Islamic preachers to use Ramadan congregations for preaching against Gender Based Violence (GBV) in rural communities of Sokoto State.
The event was tagged: ”Iftar meeting to discuss Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV), Sexual Reproductive Health Right (SRHR) and Child Health Rights.”
It was supported by Development Research and Project Centre (dRPC).
CADI Chairman, Alhaji Sani Umar-Jabbi, said the anti-GBV campaign was targetted in Gagi and other communities in Sokoto State for message delivery during Ramadan fasting, as scholars engaged in Qur’anic exegesis (Tafsir).
Umar-Jabbi, also the District Head of Gagi, noted that many women and girls in the community did not even realise that they were being abused.
He said the event gave CADI officials and scholars the opportunity to share thoughts on measures to reduce violence against women and girls, drawing insights from their various communities.
According to him, the campaign aims at strengthening the challenges on discriminatory behaviours against the female gender in social norms and actions that were detrimental to women and girls, especially in educational pursuits and accessing health services.
In his presentation, Uztaz Isa Fakai urged husbands and other heads of families to consider and implement girls and women rights as accorded by Islamic injunctions.
Fakai advised couples to understand individual rights in marriage and preach peace and cordial living within the family as well as community at large.
Sheikh Liman Maigero described scholars as critical in spreading virtues and moulding peoples behaviours at all levels, especially during preaching seasons.
Maigero urged scholars to live up to the expectations and be wary of engaging in evils as they were the models of the society.
The GBV Response Team Leader in Sokoto State, Malam Rabi’u Gandi, cautioned people against discriminatory attitudes on girls and women in the society.
Gandi said fewer than 1,109 GBV cases were recorded in the state which constituted 600 cases of both girls and boys from March 2020 to Nov. 2022 in the state.
The Permanent Secretary in the state Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Hajia A’Isha Dantsoho, represented by Mr Waqashatu Abubakar, commended CADi for the efforts and urged others to emulate the strides.
Reports said that the event witnessed questions and answers on different topics and offered solutions to some issues.
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