GBV: 140 Survivors Identified in Edo For Support

A Non-Governmental Organisation, Global Women for Quality and Sustainable Development Initiative (GWSD), says it has identified over 140 survivors of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Edo and has commenced support for them.

Programme Officer, GWSD, Lilian Pinawei made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin on Thursday.

She said the survivors are located in Edo South Senatorial District of the state.

According to her, the NGO had gotten over 140 GBV survivors, adding that its target, however, was to reach out to 200 GBV survivors from January to September.

“From the statistics gotten so far, we have more women coming out to speak against GBV than girls.

“We observed that most of the girls who experience GBV do not speak out due to fear of stigmatisation,”she said.

She added that the NGO got over 40 cases of GBV against girls in secondary schools in the target area.

“We got the statistics for the secondary school girls from the Edo State Universal Basic Education Board, through its GBV officers at the local government councils.

“Some of these girls are already in temporary shelters and their cases range from defilement, physical abuse, abandonment, and others,” she said.