SGBV: Niger Govt moves to domesticate Family Courts

The Niger Government says it has begun arrangements to establish Family Courts to speed up Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) cases, in order to get justice for the victims in the state.

Hajiya Hadiza Shiru, Permanent Secretary in the State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, told the newsmen, on the sideline of a free medical outreach on Monday in Minna.

Shiru said that the free medical outreach was organised by the ministry in collaboration with the state office of National Human Right Commission (NHRC) as part of activities to mark the 16 day activism against SGBV.

She expressed optimism that by 2024, the court would be domesticated and fully operational in the state.

The permanent secretary said that one of the obstacles militating against victims of SGBV to come and report cases was stigmatisation.

According to Shiru, on this issue, the Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, had directed that the victims must be given full protection.

“She also directed that family courts be established, where all the stakeholders in SGBV will be free to speak out.

“Here in Niger state, we are working with the Ministry of Justice and the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), to speed up the process of establishing family courts in the state.

“Already, we have set a day aside to visit the Attorney-General of the State to fine-tune the process,” she said.

Shiru said that there were already existing laws in the state protecting women and children against violence, such as Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) law and the Child Right law.

“These laws have been domesticated in Niger state and are fully active,” she said.

Shiru said that there had been several reported cases of child abuse, defilement, Gender Based Violence in the state.

“We have been dealing with reported cases, we have done everything possible to protect those who reported their cases, toward getting justice for them.

“Already we have over 1,700 cases of GBV cases reported in the state this year, out of the figure we have secured 20 prosecutions,” she said.

In his remark, Dr Nuhu Mohammed, the State Coordinator, NHRC, said that the 16 day exercise against GBV was an annual international campaign from Nov. 25 to Dec. 10.

Mohammed said that the theme for the 2023 event; “Invest to Prevent Violence Against Women and Children,” focusses on the importance of financing different prevention strategies to end violence against women and girls.