August 27, (THEWILL) – Anambra State Government has created a family court to checkmate violence against women and against the girl child.
The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Children Development, Mrs Ify Obinabo, disclosed this on Saturday in Awka.
“Women fight against fellow women and even partner with men to perpetrate the evil for material gains.
“Since my assumption of office, I have received more than 100 cases of violence against women perpetrated by fellow women’’, she said.
Mrs Obinabo disclosed that the court had handled 40 of the 85 family violence cases before it since its creation two months ago.
“We take reported cases of violence to this court to achieve the right attitude in the state and to ensure fair treatment of all”, she said, adding that women needed to be spoken to not to be party to the abuse of fellow women for whatever reason.
Obinabo was addressing a stakeholders’ conference organised to change norms and practices that promote violence against women and girls.
She explained that the court was established to facilitate quick prosecution of violent crimes against women and the girl child ranging from rape to wife battery, among others.
Obinabo called for sensitisation of women to avoid family violence in various degrees as many women died unavoidable deaths due to lack of knowledge.
She commended Women Aid Collective, an NGO, which organised the workshop with support from Ford Foundation.
Obinabo charged women to report any form of abuse, verbal, emotional or physical to the ministry for proper attention.
