Electoral Hub seeks attention on violence against women, PWDs during elections

A group under the aegis of IRIAD-The Electoral Hub has said there are lack of specific attention on violence against women and persons living with disabilities in the Nigerian.

The Director of the group, Princess Hamman-Obels, was quoted in a statement to have said this in Abuja at the just concluded one-day Stakeholders’ Convening and Baseline Report Presentation on Violence against Women and Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in the 2023 Off-circle Governorship Elections organised by IRIAD-The Electoral Hub.

She recommended relevant electoral duty bearers like INEC, women affairs ministry among others to develop and implement comprehensive civic and voter education programmes .

Hamman-Obels said the programmes should focus on raising awareness about the importance of gender equity, the rights of women and PWDs in elections, and the negative consequences of electoral violence on their participation in the electoral process.

She explained that the project aims at improving electoral inclusion by addressing violence against women and PWDs in elections in Nigeria and deepening electoral accountability and integrity.

“This is through increased participation of vulnerable and marginalised groups for quality and credible elections; to draw up actionable policy recommendations to produce a safer and more inclusive electoral environment for historically disadvantaged groups – Women and PWDs,’’ Hamman-Obels.

INEC’s Benue, Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC),Prof. Sam Egwu said the well-researched study established that violence against PWDs and women was prevalent in the electoral system and many were unaware of the nuances around violence.

Egwu said that the study identifed that even though security agencies have a mandate to deal with these issues, there were no indication that they help protect women against violence in the election.

Also, the Director, INEC Gender and Inclusivity Department, Dorothy Lakunuya-Bello, said that it was therefore, important to aim to increase the tempo on voter education and sensitising the public about these issues because knowledge is key and if they know better they would do better.