Wife of the Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Olayemi Oyebanji has restated the readiness of the state government to crack down on violators of the Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Law most especially sex offenders in the state.
The governor’s wife urged female students to always speak up and report issues of sexual harassment and offences of attempted rape, rape, sexual molestation and defilement to her office for prompt action to get perpetrators of the offences punished under Ekiti State GBV (Prohibition) Law 2019.
She made the call on Tuesday during the first day of her interactive session with male and female students of public schools tagged ‘BAORESS Interface With Adolescents Project (BIWAP)’, held at Mary Immaculate Grammar School, Ado Ekiti, for participants drawn from Ekiti Central Senatorial District.
According to a statement by her Senior Special Assistant on Media, Odunayo Ogunmola, the First Lady in a lecture she delivered at the event also called for the establishment of Gender Desks in all public schools in the state to curb sexual abuse of students and offer the needed counsel to victims.
The governor’s wife expressed dismay that majority of perpetrators of GBV including sexual abuse are familiar individuals like parents, guardians, relations, teachers, neighbours, schoolmates, security men, drivers and bike riders engaged to convey pupils to schools.
She said: “All schools in the state should have Gender Desks to be manned by trained personnel, Gender Desk Officers who will be on hand to assist and counsel students suffering abuses in line with the GBV (Prohibition) Law 2019.”
Dr. Oyebanji described Gender-Based Violence (GBV) as a monster that could mar the future of students noting that rape, attempted rape, sexual molestation, defilement also happen in school environments.
She also warned students against engaging in physical attacks against fellow students and inappropriate touching of sensitive parts of their colleagues, which are punishable under the law.
