FCT gets referral centre for domestic, sexual violence

The FCT minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, has charged the FCT Social Development Secretariat to give special attention to the issue of violence against women and children in the FCT.

The minister gave the charge yesterday while inaugurating the FCT Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team and the Gender Based Violence Referral Centre in Abuja.

Malam Bello, who noted that the FCT ranked high among areas with prevalent cases of domestic and gender based violence, said with the right political will and co-operation among all stakeholders, a lot could be achieved to contain the scourge.

He expressed gratitude to the office of the vice president for initiating a national discourse on domestic and sexual violence, which culminated in the initiative being embarked upon by the FCT Administration.

“As difficult as this activity may appear to be, as long as you have pockets of success and it is well documented and publicised, that opens up a lot of confidence in what can be done and more importantly, gives people hope that whatever happens to a person, you always have a place where you will receive a listening ear, guidance and counselling, above all resolution of problems,” he added.

The minister also called for the right attitude and efforts from other stakeholders to make the Referral Centre a success because the menace must be tackled headlong.

Speaking earlier, the Acting Secretary, Social Development Secretariat, Mrs. Elegbede Irene Adebola, said the centre enjoyed the support of the Presidency, agencies, departments, NGOs, among others as anchoring partners.

She said domestic and sexual violence happened among the low and high, the educated and uneducated in the society and therefore called for concerted efforts to combat the menace.