The Nasarawa State Government on Monday inaugurated a Sexual Assault Referral Centre at the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital (DASH), Lafia.
In a speech at the event, the Wife of the Governor, Mrs Silifat Sule, vowed to ensure that anybody that abused a woman or girl got punished severely to serve as deterrent to others with similar intentions.
Sule said that available records have shown that family members and neighbours were the perpetrators of most cases of sexual abuse in recent time.
She called on parents not to leave their children under the care of anybody no matter how related they were to them without monitoring them.
Also, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Aisha Rufai-Ibrahim, said the centre was established to handle cases of gender-based violence (GBV) in the state.
Rufai-Ibrahim said that the inauguration of the centre was to demonstrate the State Government’s commitment toward the protection of the rights of women and children.
“The centre will give hope to victims of sexual violence, treat them and give them the needed support to get justice.
“The provision of healthcare services is one of the topmost priorities of the Gov. Abdullahi Sule-led administration.
“The governor had given serious attention to issues of GBV in the state in the last four years and will do everything possible to tackle the menace,’’ she said.
She commended the governor’s wife for always partnering the ministry to provide support for victims of GBV in the state.
The commissioner further said that the ministry had a situation room that monitors cases of GBV to ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted to serve as deterrent to others.
The Commissioner for Justice, represented by Justina Allu, Director, Public Defender, GBV in the ministry, described the establishment of the centre as a welcome development.
He said that unnecessary interference by community, traditional and religious leaders as well as highly placed persons was always hampering against getting justice for victims.
He appealed to victims and their families to always open up and urged community leaders to desist from interfering with such cases to ensure smooth administration of justice and punishment of offenders.
On his part, the Medical Director of DASH, Dr Hassan Ikrama, expressed gratitude to the governor’s wife and ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development for establishing the centre at the facility.
Ikrama said that DASH had been handling a lot of sexually related cases in recent years and expressed worry over the increase in the rate of assault against women and girl-children in the state.
He said the facility would deploy qualified and sufficient personnel to work at the centre for optimal performance.