Victims of gender-based violence and harassment at work places and across every facet of Nigerian society would henceforth receive a huge support from the International Federation of Women Layers (FIDA).
Newly elected national president of FIDA, Mrs Amina Agbaje, said this in Abuja Monday during the inauguration of her new team of executive committee members.
She said FIDA would build an ultramodern shelter for victims in Abuja.
Mrs Agbaje, who is also the International vice president of the organisation, further said the shelter would be a one-stop-shop to provide not just shelter for victims of gender-based violence, but would include courtroom and other facilities.
“What we desire to do is to have a one-stop-shop shelter that is very big. We intend to locate it in Abuja. Let me also add that while some of our branches have functional shelters, they are relatively small to the one we are proposing to build at the national in Abuja.
“It is going to be a centre where all the activities related to gender-based violence can be treated without any stakeholders dissipating energy on going from one location to another. It is a centre where all issues ranging from case reporting, investigation to prosecution and keeping victims safe in one location,” the FIDA leader said.
According to her, shelter for victims of gender-based violence became necessary to enhance speedy dispensation of justice and guarantee safety and comfort for victims.
“As a group that has a bias for gender-based violence, the focus of the current leadership is to unveil a shelter for victims of gender-based violence. Most of the time when we rescue victims of gender-based violence we do not have a place to keep them before things are sorted out. We found that we are always in dire need of a shelter facility that is solely owned by FIDA.
“What we do presently when we rescue victims is to look for a shelter where to place them, which is not always conducive for our work and interventions. So, our focus is to be able to deliver to the organisation a befitting shelter that has a courtroom, witness box, accommodation and facilities that can be a safe home for women who are facing gender-based violence,” she added.
Mrs Agbaje also revealed that “FIDA Nigeria conducts legal clinics for female detainees and offer to either offset minor fines or take up matters that need legal representations free of charge, as part of its efforts at decongesting correctional centres across the country.”
