The Centre for Women Studies and Intervention (CWSI) has called for sustained training of law enforcement personnel to strengthen the protection and response mechanisms for women and girls with disabilities who experience violence.
The organisation said persons with disabilities often encounter additional barriers when reporting cases of violence, accessing protection services and seeking justice, making disability-inclusive law enforcement services essential.
CWSI made the call in Abuja on Thursday at a shared learning event organised as part of its efforts to strengthen the capacity of law enforcement personnel on disability rights, inclusive communication and survivor-centred approaches to handling cases of violence against women and girls with disabilities.
The project was aimed at equipping law enforcement agencies with the knowledge and skills required to provide disability-inclusive and gender-responsive services to survivors.
The Executive Director of CWSI, Francisca Ngozi Uti, stressed the importance of sustained collaboration among government institutions, law enforcement agencies, civil society organisations and organisations of persons with disabilities in addressing existing gaps.
Uti also called for stronger institutional commitment towards the effective implementation of the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018, noting that its provisions must translate into practical protection and access to justice for persons with disabilities.
Prior to the shared learning event, CWSI conducted capacity-building sessions in Gwagwalada and the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), where 30 law enforcement personnel were trained before being brought together for the joint session to exchange experiences and lessons learned.
One of the participants, Superintendent of Corps and Desk Officer for Persons with Disabilities at the FCT Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Ojo Ademola, said the training had significantly changed her understanding of disability rights.
“After so many trainings, I now understand that persons with disabilities have equal rights like others in society. They are one of us,” she said.
Ademola noted that persons with disabilities should enjoy the same rights and freedoms as other Nigerians and have access to public services without discrimination.
Participants at the event also called on CWSI to strengthen partnerships with government institutions by integrating disability inclusion into existing staff training programmes.
They said such collaboration would help reduce the cost of organising separate training programmes while promoting stronger institutional cooperation on disability inclusion.
“We can’t always wait for them to act. We are all here,” one of the participants said.
The participants identified several barriers to effective disability inclusion, including inaccessible facilities, inadequate assistive equipment, limited support services, weak disability-inclusive policies and gaps in support for survivors of violence.
The shared learning event brought together representatives of the Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Federal Road Safety Corps, Vigilante Group of Nigeria, Nigerian Immigration Service, National Human Rights Commission, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and Nigerian Correctional Service.
The participants shared experiences and discussed practical measures for making law enforcement, protection and support services more accessible, inclusive and responsive to the needs of women and girls with disabilities.
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