Mr. Oluseun Adebiyi, OYO State Program Officer for the RSSH C19-RM project, has said that misperception of gender-based violence, particularly among young men, was fueling increasing cases of mistreatment of women and their consequences on the bases.
Adebiyi, speaking at the December edition of the RSSH C19-RM project meeting in Ibadan, stated that cases of gender-based violence identified by project implementers in the month suggested that young men had a misperception of what constitutes gender violence.
According to him, “some members of the younger generation did not see much in committing physical violence against women and girls.”
Adebiyi stated that causes of physical violence between couples are on the rise and there are many cases of abandonment because they are not prepared to take responsibility.
“The economic situation of many women forces them to live with and tolerate violence, which causes serious harm and, ultimately, death if measures are not taken to obtain reparation,” she said.
He stated that during the outreach activities of the GBV projects in 3 schools and 2 churches, as well as the NEPWHAN case managers' small group discussions with different groups in November, some of the GBV cases were not reported. could be completely resolved because the women did not want to continue with the case.
Adebiyi, however, urged the government to increase empowerment programs for women and religious bodies should provide guidance to women on the need for self-empowerment so that they can have a voice to speak out against violence in any form against their personalities.
According to him: “Religious bodies should raise more awareness about the dangers of physical violence in homes and its consequences in society. Society, homes and schools should inculcate social values and responsibilities in their informal and extracurricular activities.
“Men should desist from acting under provocation and allow some arguments with women to pass, while matters of disagreement should not be discussed in the presence of their charges. This will prevent them from learning habits of violence.”