Delta state government has said it has prosecuted several men for violence against innocent women and arrested tricycle rider who damaged organs of his two daughters in the state.
Commissioner for Women Affairs Mrs. Pat Ajudua who stated this in Asaba, at the International Women’s Day celebration, said even children are also violated by their uncles and fathers.
Mrs Ajudua however, said that her ministry has won 22 case in court against wicked and irresponsible men.
Delta Ministry of Women Affairs and Ministry of Health in collaboration with the World Health Organisation and other patterns celebrate international women’s day with theme; Count her In; Accelerating Gender Equality through Economic Empowerment.
According to her, ” about two weeks ago, we got information about a man who violated his two daughters, five and seven years old. We brought the children here and examined them and discovered that their organs have been damaged.
“As we speak, the man is in the police custody and the matter would be charged to court. We are fighting a lot of battles.
Also speaking, the State Coordinator, Reproductive Health in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Weyinmi Francis said
the Public Health department of the Ministry in collaboration with the Society for family Health and DISC are empowering women and young girls and
raising awareness on their reproductive Health rights and increasing their contraceptive and family planning choices.
She said that, “DISC project has done this by creating awareness for contraceptive self-injection and self-care in the communities and working assiduously to build the capacity of family planning providers in different public facilities in the state thus improving service delivery in the State.
“One of the many ways they do this is by partnering to raising awareness on days like this (international womens day)where the focus is on the woman and empowering her.
The Behavioural Change Communication (SBC) officer for Delivering Innovative in Self Care (DISC) in Delta, Mr Ugo Vincent, explained that the DISC project aimed to shift sexual and reproductive healthcare to becoming a more patient-centered self-care approach where individuals take charge of their own healthcare needs.
He added that the DISC project is under the sexual and reproductive health sphere with a focus on contraception and family planning.
According to him, “The whole essence of self-care is to ensure women have more autonomy over their sexual and reproductive health, allowing them to decide when they want to get pregnant.
“By providing access to self-inject contraceptives, we aim to prevent unintended pregnancies, reduce the strain on healthcare facilities, and improve women’s overall reproductive health.”
He explained that the DISC project in Delta is currently working in about 56 facilities across five local government areas with the family planning providers trained to provide clients with balanced counselling messages with the aim of eliciting informed choices in taking up FP methods.
He also said that DISC has a number of Interpersonal Communication Agents (IPCAs) who work in the communities to create awareness of family planning and self-care and refer interested persons to the facilities to take up methods.
Mr. Vincent also stressed that self-injection as a form of contraception has come to stay due to its many advantages including reduced waiting times for patients, saving costs on transportation, and a decreased workload for healthcare providers with the multiplier effect seen on healthcare facilities decongestion; while also offering women privacy and convenience thus addressing the stigma associated with contraceptive use.
