UCJ Unimaid Chapter Organized a One-Day GBV Advocacy Workshop for Students

 

Participants during the session

By: Godiya Jacob

The Union of Campus Journalists, University of Maiduguri Chapter, with support from the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) has on Thursday, October 12th, 2023 organized a One-Day workshop to educate and empower students in advocating for a GBV-free environment.

Themed "Creating a GBV-Free Campus", the workshop aims to improve the discuss surrounding GBV and its prevalence on campus, reintroduce the proposed Anti-sexual Harassment in Tertiary Institution Bill 2019, and work toward influencing new policies to foster change. 

The Guest Speaker, Executive Director, Women in New Nigeria and Youth Empowerment Initiative (WINN) Lucy D. Yunana, who spoke extensively on the overview of GBV relating its persisting existence on the campus community and the vulnerability of young women said "With a collective effort,  the University environment should be made a conducive one for all students particularly to the females as they are the most vulnerable to any form of violence".

Other GBV advocates at the event, analyzed the different types of GBV, the most common ones found on campus, and relevant laws that protect individuals.

The WINN GBV project officer, Grace Ushadiri said "There are different forms of Gender Based Violence, but the most common found on campus are psychological and sexual violence among its common types are stalking, online harassment, and other sexual activities that are done without consent".

Reflecting on the phrase " GBV is a violation of human rights and a punishable offense" a GBV Advocate with Gender Equality Peace and Development Center GEPaDC, Ann Darman Bukar, enlightened participants on some relevant sections of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act VAPP, noting that the law is subjected to any offender regardless of the context of crime.

A group photograph of the speakers

The UCJ President, Rukaiyatu Idris, who facilitated the second session of the workshop, focused on bringing context to the topic discussed and deliberating with participants on possible and sustainable solutions going forward.

"There are a limited number of students with adequate knowledge of Gender Base Violence across campuses, and that is why we are seeking the support of both individuals and organizations to advocate for a conducive learning environment for all, and also pick from your diverse proposed solutions going forward".

As part of what was gathered as proffered solutions, participants suggest the need for the school management to make GBV sensitization to be part of students' orientation, street campaigns to create awareness and a hotline to be made available for students to report cases.

However, the President advised participants to be observant of language and terminologies at the cause of interaction with survivors as it is very crucial in ensuring resilience, empathy, and respect for the individual involved.

Also speaking, the UCJ Unimaid Staff Adviser, Dr. Sharafa Dauda, emphasizes the need for all to champion the knowledge learned, noting that the suggested solutions need to be implemented to achieve the core objectives of the program.

In their separate remarks, the Student Affairs Division representative, Fatima Umar Buba, and the University of Maiduguri SUG President, Munnir Hassan Nababa,  represented by his Secretary General, Umar Zanna Sunoma, assured to partner with UCJ Unimaid to fight against GBV on the campus. 


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