From: Romanus Okoye
As the world celebrates the international day of the girl-child, a group, the International Charitable Initiative for Girl-child & Woman Development Foundation has called on Lagos State government to build supportive
housing and independent correctional facilities as well as create
separate human rights desk for the children.
President of the group, Mrs. Helen Ibeji, in a letter submitted to the Lagos State House of Assembly, noted that
Lagos State had always pioneered innovative ideas in the areas of
child rights laws. “The State is well known for its foremost place in
piloting of new initiatives and ideas. The Lagos State Child Rights
Law and its use within the family court have done much to improve
outcomes for the young and vulnerable children, especially those
traumatised by sexual or physical assault.”
She expained that supportive housing was where young people
between the ages of 18 and 25 are accommodated to acquire education
and entrepreneurial skills. “These children have left children’s homes
but cannot return to the family environment for various reasons; such
children have not in many cases neither finished their education,
learnt necessary skills nor built enough confidence to cope on their
own. Supportive housing normally takes the form of a residential
building in the community with caregivers. The residents are evaluated
and signposted for relevant services.
“Lagos State being the flag-bearer on child rights and development may
wish to look at the development of children villages, where facilities
for education, skills training, medical and therapeutic attention can
be given to this group of children,” she noted.
The organisation urged the Lagos State House of Assembly to make such service part of the state laws.
“It is inconceivable that a girl-child
having being subjected to physical or sexual abuse in the family
environment cannot be expected to return there after leaving
children’s home. Invariable, they become homeless young adults even
more susceptible to abuse in various forms, with distinct possibility
of engaging in criminality.”
The statement emphasised that, “practitioners in the field of child
rights have long decried the lack of supporting structures such as
refuges for victims of domestic abuse, temporary placement provision
for children awaiting social services providers’ investigations,
specialist medical services for rape victims, counseling and
psychiatric care.
“The situation where young children are placed in adult prisons is
intolerable and can only lead to unwanted outcomes, hence we advocate
for development of more correctional facilities for children engaged
in crime.”
It also added, “We are advocating the inclusion of independent human
rights desk for children in every police station in the state. This is
to ensure that the training given to our police officers relating to
their interactions with the civilian population and the protection of
human rights are properly internalized and maintained when arrested or
interviewed. Such step will definitely improve citizenry, especially
parent’s confidence in the Police Force as well as indicate to the
international community that we are trying to rebrand the image of the
Police Force within the state.”
The statement concluded that it was only when the girl-child and by
extension the women gain their places as strong and equal members of
the society that vision 2030 would be a reality.