16 DAYS FOR 16 COMMUNITIES
The 16 Days of Activism campaign undertaken by Gender and Development Action (GADA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Women Affairs (MOWA) aimed to address the high prevalence of GBV in Cross River State.
The objectives were: 1) to raise awareness of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) law; 2) to help communities understand GBV offences, prescribed punishments, the jurisdiction of the court, and provision of services to the survivors; 3) to highlight and foster collaboration with key community stakeholders and State actors.
Through the campaign, GADA forged new relationships and strengthened existing partnerships with the MOWA, traditional leaders, religious leaders, youth groups, media, Women's Development Organizations (WDOs), Women's Rights Organizations (WROs) and influential community members such as police officers, lawyers, and community health workers.
Under the banner, “16 Days for 16 Communities”, the activities began with a walk to raise awareness on ending GBV and ended with a second walk around Calabar.
Each community was visited by a team of GADA staff and volunteers and activities undertaken included: pre-activity planning with the team, mapping of stakeholders, VAPP Law sensitization, setting up a Crisis Management Team in the community, question and answer sessions on prevalent issues in the community, identification of community influencers, pre and post-test evaluation.
Our interventions reached 5 rural communities, 4 semi-urban communities and 7 urban communities. Materials such as copies of the VAPP Law and GBV educational items were distributed.
In a nutshell, the 16 Days of Activism campaign served as a pivotal moment in addressing GBV in CRS. The positive engagement and collaboration with the Ministry of Women Affairs, traditional leaders, religious leaders, and other influential figures underscore the commitment at various levels to combat GBV. However, the connections between insecurity, crime, violence, and cultism are further validated as well as the role of young people in perpetuating violence against women and girls. These observations are well documented in the GBV research study GADA recently commissioned.
In conclusion, the activities conducted during the 16 Days of Activism have laid the foundation for galvanising a strong community-based effort and participation to eradicate GBV in the State. The level of community collaboration and enthusiasm, and our leadership role provide the basis for GADA to lead, coalesce and sustain a state-wide, multi-pronged effort and movement to drive effective actions against reducing GBV.