Inclusive Friends Association, IFA, has commenced training for 20 Persons with Disabilities to advocate for reduction, if not eradication, of Gender Based Violence against Persons with Disabilities in Lagos, Nigeria.
Executive Director of IFA, Grace Jerry made the disclosure in a press statement made available to our correspondent on Sunday. The project is being funded by the Ford Foundation.
Grace revealed that the project was launched in February 2021, through The Amplifying Voices Project. Its objective was to train young persons (males and females) with disabilities from selected states of the Federation as Fellows to combat Gender Based Violence being perpetrated against Persons with Disabilities through dogged and strategic advocacy.
According to Jerry, the rationale behind this methodology is to make advocates more comfortable engaging in a familiar terrain in which their audience will be more attuned to the message. This, in turn, will result in a paradigm shift from what was hitherto obtainable to what we hope for.
She says previous engagements have unearthed discrimination, stigma and stereotypes as playing significant roles in building the silence culture among survivors of various forms of violence. This has spiked cases of violence against Persons with Disabilities, most of which goes unreported – rendering the victims voiceless and invisible.
The foregoing necessitated the creation of Network of Youth With Disabilities Advocates. The group aims to improve capacities to spotlight and innovatively address incidences of gender-based violence against women and girls with disabilities across the country.
According to the IFA Boss, launching a third Cohort of twenty (20) Advocates from Lagos and Abuja will further spread the word to more communities, reaching a wider audience. The training for the third Cohort takes place in Lagos State. It is scheduled to commence with a Press Conference, followed by three days of Intensive training for the Fellows.
“We are hopeful that our project activities will yield desired results and that there will be noticeable decline in cases of Disability Based Violence (DBV).
“We call on Government at all levels, development partners, individuals and corporate entities to partner with us to eradicate violence against Persons with Disabilities and make their environment safe.” Jerry said.