by By Elijah Ugani – Calabar
Mediatrix Development Foundation (MDF), under the Spotlight Initiative, held a one day training for advocates and social media influencers with the view to create awareness on Gender Based Violence and inspire advocacy towards eliminating violence against women and girls.
Speaking at the training, at Treasure Land Hotels, Calabar on Friday, October 6th, 2020, the Chief Operating Officer of Mediatrix Development Foundation, Mr. Jeffrey Adamade charged the advocates to consider giving their best to engage the public with the view of ending all forms of violence against women and girls.
Violence against women and girls is one of the most prevalent human rights violations in the world. It knows no social, economic or national boundaries.
Worldwide, an estimated one in three children and women will experience physical or sexual abuse in her lifetime.
Gender-based violence undermines the health, dignity, security and autonomy of its victims, yet it remains shrouded in the culture of silence.
Victims of violence can suffer sexual and reproductive health consequences, including forced and unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions, traumatic fistula, sexually transmitted infections including HIV, and even death.
The training was aimed at increasing the use of social accountability mechanisms by civil societies order to monitor and engage the ending of VAWG/SGBV/HP efforts and promoting women and girls’ SRHR.
The objectives of the training was as follows;
To increase the capacity of 16 participants (8 in Calabar and 8 in Obanliku) to act as social media advocates in response to violence against women and girls in Calabar and Obanliku local government areas.
To Foster discussions on existing laws in relation to GEWE/VAWG/SGBV/HP/SRHR
To build Partnership and Networks for Knowledge Exchange with relevant stakeholders
To Increase coordinated efforts to jointly advocate on GEWE/VAWG/SGBV/HP/SRHR
To give regular feedback on updates on GEWE/VAWG/SGBV/HP/SRHR in Cross River state
To Increase Capacity of Social Media Advocates on Various Social Media Handle and Reporting.
To setup State Media Team to to jointly advocate towards GEWE/VAWG/SGBV/HP/SRHR in Cross River State.
To improve participants knowledge on Gender Based Violence, types and effect in our communities.
To transfer new knowledge and skills through experience sharing on Violence Against programs. (Success stories, challenges and lessons learned)
The facilitators, Mr. Obase Okanke, took the participants through the various forms of violence against women and girls, while Mr. Valentine Bassey tutored them on the use of social media handles to report activities, awareness campaigns/sensitization and cases of gender based violence against women which increased their knowledge on GEWE/VAWG/SGBV/HP/SRHR, and Social Media Reporting.
One of the participants of the training, Mr. Boniface from Obanliku thanked thanked Mediatrix for the initiative to train them and maintained that despite his knowledge of ICT, he was exposed to so many things especially, twitter and promised to put in his best in the advocacy using social media to end all forms of violence against women and girls.
Social media handles were set up for participants to ease their work while working to end gender based violence against women and girls.
A WhatsApp group for reporting was set up for the trained advocates.
