Group decries over increase rate of GBV cases in Gombe

An alliance of 22 civil society organisations under the aegis of VAPP Alliance has decried over the increasing rate of Gender-Based Violence in Gombe, amid a lack of stiff penalties to prosecute such cases.

According to the Coordinator, Dudu Manuga, not less than 83 cases were reported in May, based on statistics gathered from the Gombe State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.

However, it was recall that Gombe is one of the state’s yet to domesticate Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act, based on a document obtained by our correspondent over 371 cases have been recorded from May to November.

Manuga made this disclosure on Friday while commemorating International Day of Human Rights and the end of the 16 days of activism with the theme ‘Orange the world: End violence against women now’, which was organised with support from Education as a Vaccine.

She explained that GBV is not about rape only stressing that it cuts different other forms of violence which include; domestic violence, sexual harassment, sexual intimidation, abandonment, denial of inheritance based on gender, etc.

Manuga lamented the failure of Gombe State to join the league of states with enabling laws, “Imagine one month having up to 80 reported cases in Gombe State. Another month up to 83 reported and remember more are not reported than are reported.

“We the VAPP alliance in 2019 came together we are here with the human right commission is also a member of the Gombe VAPP alliance and their representative has been in all our meetings since we came together in 2019 at that time no state in the North East has passed the VAPP law at that time I think only Benue and Kaduna states in the North have passed the VAPP law.

“We are in 2021 the bill was taken in October 2020 by the executive, we had a public hearing in 2021. We are in December 2021 we do not have a VAPP law in Gombe State, am not sure about Adamawa but we may be the only one in the North East with VAPP law, Borno passed their own yesterday. What is happening to us in Gombe we don’t know?

“With a VAPP law we can fight violence against women, we can fight violence against anybody, everybody who is facing gender based violence whether boys or girls, men or women in Gombe State. Without VAPP law perpetrators find their way to the street after a few weeks or paying some fine and by the time families of survivors see them they get angry they feel there is no justice in Gombe State.”