Posted by By: Sheriff SaidyKhan
The Network of Gender Based Violence in partnership with United Nations Development Fund will join the rest of the World to commemorate the International Day for the elimination of violence against Women.
The Network is gearing up to embark on a nationwide 16 Days activism campaign slated to begin on 30th November 2019, with the THEME ‘’Ending Sexual violence in the World of work’’.
Speaking at a press briefing held at Action Aid Secretariat Fallu Sowe, National Coordinator for Gender Based Violence said the aim of the campaign is to harmonize efforts to end all forms of sexual and Gender Based Violence in the country. ‘’The theme reflects the core principle of the transformative of 2030 Agenda for sustainable development and reinforces the UN Women Campaign commitment to a world free from violence for all women and girls’’.
Mr. Sowe further decried that Gender Based Violence against women is becoming frequent in all societies, whiles urging key drivers to take stringent measures towards the elimination of Gender Based Violence. ‘’The Network against Gender Based Violence would like to seize this opportunity to remind the Government and people of the Gambia that The Gambia is a signatory to many international and regional Treaties and conventions that protects women and children from all forms of violence, such as the Convention on the Rights of the child. These instruments were further ratified and domesticated into national laws of The Gambia in the form of the Women’s Act 2010, the Children’s Act 2005, the Domestic Violence Act 2013 and Sexual Offences Act 2013. These Acts prohibits discrimination and all forms of violence and abuse against women and children including the girl child’’ he remarked.
He further added that the campaign of prohibiting domestic sexual violence, criminalising Female Genital Cutting and child marriage are becoming widespread against women and girls. ‘’ The CBV data collected by the network from One Stop Center and other service delivery points continue to show increase in the number of sexual violence cases reported from 2014 to 2018. Out of a total number of 2,030 reported cases the period i.e. 2014 to 2018, 941 cases 46 percent of the cases are sexual violence’