The federal government says women who protect husbands that molest their children would also be charged with negligence.
Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, the Minister of Women Affairs, who made the statement, emphasised that the government will no longer tolerate mothers preventing legal action against those who molest their children.
She added that the government’s primary concern is the well-being of the child, saying that mother should not protect their husbands from legal consequences.
Kennedy-Ohanenye made the statement in Abuja at a one day awareness creation programme on using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to address Gender Based Violence (GBV), organised by the Maryam Babangida National Centre for Women Development.
She said her ministry is fighting for the establishment of mobile courts all over the country to fight cases if GBV and added that the President is in support because he is a he for she.
She noted: “Now we can fight for the establishment of mobile courts to help fight GBV and the President is supporting it. Women should not take the advantage of this establishment to start causing trouble or maltreating our men but give peace a chance.
“As Women we also say no to violence and no to molestation. For instance, not only would men who molest their children be taken to court but the mothers would also be charged for negligence, we would no longer tolerate mothers whose children have been molested saying they don’t want their husbands to be taken to court because our interest is in the child.
“We want to work towards women being well empowered, no more handouts, why things has not been working in this country is because they kept us aside, the President is a he for she so we are going to capitalise on it and achieve what we want so that women can come on board. So now we have to start encouraging our girls to go into anything thry want to do.”
The Director General of the center, Dr. Asabe Bashir, said in their effort to combat gender-based violence, at the center thry are using ICT innovative solutions to spotlight GBV cases.
She said their Electronic Dash Board displays secondary data collated on reported and convicted cases disaggregated by sex and age.
She noted: “These are verified cases sourced from Newspaper Reports and online news with names of perpetrators, locations of where the offences were committed and nature of judgements amongst others.”
The DG added that in this modern age of technology, using Mobile applications, online reporting mechanisms, and virtual support networks could empower survivors to seek help and access resources discreetly and the intersection of technology and activism allows the center to break the silence surrounding these atrocities and create a supportive environment for survivors.