The Lagos State Government, through the Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA), has inducted 210 students from Education District V into the Queens and Kings Clubs after weeks of orientation programmes.
Speaking on the induction, the Executive Secretary of DSVA, Mrs. Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi said there is a need to heighten awareness at all strata of the society to tackle headlong the menace of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) prevalence in the state and the need to bring perpetrators to book via the referral pathway laid down by the State Government.
Vivour-Adeniyi said the initiative is aimed at creating a sustainable social structure in educational institutions that will help debunk socio-cultural misconceptions and promote empowered femininity to bring about behavioural and attitudinal change in the minds of young girls in Lagos State.
“The Initiative would also help to constitute an alliance of trained young girls and boys in schools who would serve as peer educators and advocates of positive femininity and masculinity”, she added.
According to her, the Club which was created to expose girls and boys to increased knowledge on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH), would also enable them to question dominant norms which promote gender inequities as well as challenge myths and misconceptions about violence.
While emphasising that DSVA seeks to promote positive SRH behaviour, the Executive Secretary stated that the initiative would also assist in the generation of data on the perception of girls and boys regarding GBV and SRH.
In her words: “Empowering and inaugurating the students into the King’s Club and Queen’s Club was expedient as children are amongst the statistics of victims, preys to paedophiles and many forms of abuse”.
One of the facilitators and Founder of the University Royalty Empowerment Foundation, Barrister Judith Osinaike, said the aim of the programme was to create a sustainable social structure in educational institutions across the State, urging the students to continue to strive for excellence and champion a world free of all forms of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and to see themselves as ambassadors and change agents in the society.
Aderonke Oyelakin, the State Coordinator, Child Protection Network and facilitator at the ceremony, commended the efforts of the DSVA in ensuring attitudinal change in society, noting that such efforts would be geared towards tackling the menace of Gender-Based Violence and preventing child domestic and sexual abuse in Lagos.
The students from Education District V were also awarded certificates and identity cards to validate their induction into the clubs.
