Bimbola Oyesola; Zika Bobby

As Nigerian women joined other women to celebrate International Women’s Day, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the IndustriALL Global Union have tasked the Federal Government on proper implementation of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (2015) and other violebt acts against women.

NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said implementation of the Act, which prohibits all forms of violence against persons in both private and public life “becomes more important at this period in the nation’s as it provides maximum protection and effective remedies for victims as well as punishment for offenders… This is, indeed, the right time to commemorate the political, economic and social achievement of women.”

Wabba noted that this year’s theme: “Press for Progress,” was apt and called on all to support the noble cause of women and reiterated NLC’s commitment to continually advocate the adoption and implementation of policies and strategies that promote gender equality in the workplace, unions and the larger society.

In the same vein,  Vice President and Regional Head of IndustriaLL Global, Issa Aremu said unions need to keep raising awareness that violence against women is real and “it is happening everywhere.”

Aremu said IndustriALL decided to celebrate the event a day before, “in order to give members opportunity to participate in their national affiliates celebration today.

He noted that violence against women is a violation of human rights.

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“Violence against women” is “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.” This Declaration recognizes that violence against women violates women’s rights and fundamental freedoms, while the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action recognizes that the elimination of violence against women in public and private life is a human rights obligation.”

Similarly, PwC Nigeria, a leading professional services firm said its recent survey showed that more women are now actively pursuing their career goals than ever before, even as they called for greater transparency in workplaces.

The survey, PwC said, included 3,600 respondents from employers across 27 industry sectors and from over 60 countries worldwide.

According to the survey report, 82 percent of women are confident in their ability to fulfil their career aspirations while 73 percent are actively seeking career advancement opportunities.

“But, 42 percent feel nervous about the impact starting a family might have on their career and 48 percent of new mothers felt over-looked for promotions and special projects upon their return to work. Forty-five percent believe diversity could be a barrier to career progression and only 51 percent of women felt their employers were doing enough to improve gender diversity,” the report said.

Country Senior Partner, PwC, Uyi Akpata, said more women are now confident and ambitious at workplaces, and urged “leaders to focus on creating an environment where women and men can have open conversations and where there is clarity on what it takes to progress.”