Gender-Based Violence: Katsina set to establish special court for offenders
By Faith Awa Maji
The Katsina State government says it will soon set up a special court to try cases of Gender-Based Violence (GBV).
According to the Commissioner for Women Affairs, Zainab Musa Musawa, “the rate of rape, forced marriage and other related cases are on the increased hence the state government through the office of the Chief Judge will in no distant time create a special court to prosecute all offenders of Gender-Based Violence just as relevant law enforcement agencies in the State have indicated interest in the fight.”
Musawa who spoke at the weekend during an interaction with reporters in Katsina noted that the administration of Governor Dikko Umar Radda will leave no stone unturned in prosecuting anyone found guilty of violating the rights of citizens especially women and children.
She said, “we have launched collaborative partnerships with some law enforcement agencies and government institutions.
“We are in discussions with the police too and the Commissioner of Police has promised to help in tackling Gender-Based Violence. We intend to bring the crime rate low.
“The Ministry has also launched a Gender-Based Violence Centre. We have a helpline for victims to call to report cases of violence not only against them but others.
“It is for both males and females and we have recorded a lot of cases. We have solved some of these cases and we have taken some to the appropriate authorities.
“We are also in partnership with the State’s Hisbah board as well as the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).
“The establishment of the GBV centre reflects our collective determination to foster a safer environment for the citizens of the State and ensure justice is served.
“On a daily basis, the GBV centre receives three to four cases.”
While emphasising on the empowering women across all social classes by the administration of Governor Radda, her Ministry had registered over 7,000 women cooperative groups with a head count of 400,000 individual women with viable economy presence across all the 34 Local Government Areas as they will soon benefit from women empowerment programmes.
“Government is making efforts on a lot of women empowerment programmes in the State, especially on agriculture and SME.
“I assure you that women will always form a percentage of the total figure of any State, Federal and World Bank empowerment that will come to the State.
“We are also going to leverage on the World Bank empowerment project.
“And this is a grant that is going to provide N60,000 for each beneficiary to be financially included.
“The grant will also cover educational and health support for the children of the beneficiaries.”
