A Non-Governmental Organisation, Gender Perspective and Social Development Center (GPSDC), says spate of violence being witnessed in Anambra State ahead of the November six governorship election is likely to discourage voters, particularly women, from exercising their franchise.
This was contained in a preliminary statement on pre-election violence, presented at a roundtable with selected media professional professionals, under its Stop Violence Against Women in Politics, (Stop-VAWIP) Campaign, an initiative that seeks to establish the link between gender-based electoral violence and low level of participation of women in politics.
The preliminary statement notes that Stop VAWIP had since 2015 documented incidents of violence against women during off-cycle governorship elections in Bayelsa, Kogi, Osun, Kaduna, Rivers and Edo states and has been raising awareness of violence targeted at women during elections.
It has equally carried out advocacy initiatives to relevant stakeholders on the need to mitigate violence against women in politics and provide effective survivor response services where it occurs.
In the statement presented by its Communication Officer, Mr Emma Ubajekwe, GPSDC commended all stakeholders, including security personnel, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the civil society organizations (CSOs) for their contributions hitherto towards inclusive, participatory, and secure gubernatorial election in the area, even as it challenged them to redouble efforts to be able to deliver a model election.
“GPSDC established a hub in Awka to receive calls on its violence against women hotline with the support of the Anambra State Ministries of Justice and Women Affairs and the police.
“The hub will serve as the central location for all operations, including where incidents of violence against women from the hotline are tracked and crucial support is provided to survivors through collaboration with security services, the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Women Affairs, National Orientation Agency (NOA), lawyers, medical services and other relevant stakeholders”.
“As incidents are verified, the response protocols deploy respondents to survivors and/or the location of the incidents for on the spot security protection, health services, and referrals, where necessary.
“These respondents include police, social workers, and other survivor support services in communities, such as shelters and counselors,” the report further explained.
The statement stresses the need for obvious efforts towards addressing the concerns of women especially the general insecurity, which it describes as capable of worsening voter apathy during the poll.
“There is palpable fear among voters due to pre-election violence experienced across Anambra State during political party campaigns.
Although women constitute a good percentage of the registered voters in Anambra State, the vast number of registered women voters interviewed stated categorically that they may not participate in the electoral process due to the cases of violence witnessed, heard, or viewed on the media.
The spate of violence and unrest in the state may cause women to restrict their children from coming out to vote”.
According to the statement, women of Anambra State will only have the confidence to participate in the election, when they see that their concerns are being addressed.
GPSDC, the statement notes, had deployed 105 local mobilizers, who in collaboration with the National Orientation Agency (NOA) are conducting voter sensitization, to create awareness on what constitutes violence against women in politics, encourage women and youth participation in the election as well as link survivors of gender-based electoral violence to services across all local government areas, in order to mitigate electoral violence in the state.
It also observes that apart from violence, participation of women in politics had been undermined by deep-rooted patriarchal system prevalent in South Eastern Nigeria as well as dearth of relevant information and education among women.
“A good number of women have distinguished themselves in their careers but only few have been able to succeed and survive in politics. Women only go as far as men allow them in politics.
“The effort women expend to participate in politics is more than that of men. Most women don’t vote for other women”.
The statement enjoins all stakeholders including community leaders, government officials, politicians, and law enforcement agents to join forces to protect the electorate before, during and after the election as well as ensure that perpetrators of violence are apprehended and duly prosecuted.
“Political parties should adhere to their codes of conduct for elections and call on their supporters to stop perpetuating violence.
“We also want to encourage citizens of Anambra State to come out and vote without fear of intimidation and to report cases of violence in their communities and polling units.
“We call on INEC to be unbiased and conduct a free, fair, and credible governorship election on November 6,” the report advocated.
