Kwara community launches charter to combat gender-based violence

The Agbarere community in Kwara State has launched a social charter aimed at protecting women and girls, promoting gender equality, and holding perpetrators accountable.

Olasupo Abideen, founder and global director of Brain Builders Youth Development Initiative (BBYDI), made this known in a statement on Tuesday.

Mr Abideen said the development directly resulted from the organisation’s sustained engagement and mobilisation efforts, supported by the Ford Foundation.

Over 250 participants, including traditional rulers, religious leaders, women, men, and youth representatives, security agencies, and civil society actors, attended the launch event on Saturday.

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Social charter

The social charter, unveiled by the community leader, Kadir Yusuf, was endorsed by traditional, religious, and civic leaders.

The framework is a significant step towards community-led action against gender-based violence.

Mr Abideen said the charter will prioritise the protection of women and girls from gender-based violence and ensuring they have a seat at the table in traditional decision-making spaces.

He further said that the framework puts clear mechanisms in place to punish gender-based violence offenders, ensuring accountability and justice for survivors.

Meanwhile, Funmilayo Olutimehin, a gender advocate and educationist, emphasised community responsibility in ending gender-based violence, calling for collective action against harmful norms and unwavering support for survivors.

On his part, BBYDI’s communications director, Sanni Alausa-Issa, highlighted the importance of male engagement in the fight against gender-based violence.

“We cannot end gender-based violence without confronting the roles that harmful masculinities play and replacing them with values rooted in empathy, respect, and accountability,” Mr Alausa-Issa said.

**A member of BBYDI takes details of a participant**

Similarly, Nurah Jimoh-Sanni, the organisation’s executive director, affirmed their commitment to advancing the fight against gender-based violence through education, community mobilisation, and partnerships with traditional and religious institutions.

Mrs Jimoh-Sanni noted that the organisation’s goal is to build a system where communities can take charge of themselves without waiting for external interventions.

Why gender-based violence is persistent in Nigeria

Cultural norms, which often perpetuate the idea of male dominance and female submission, have been identified in various reports as a significant factor contributing to the persistence of gender-based violence.

This dynamic can normalise and permit abusive behaviours, particularly as many women are economically reliant on their husbands.

Also, despite the existence of laws to combat gender-based violence, such as the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act of 2015, enforcement remains weak.

While this law criminalises various forms of gender-based violence, including domestic violence, sexual harassment, and trafficking, its implementation is inconsistent across Nigeria.

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Between August 2014 and July 2025, Lagos for instance recorded 8,692 cases of domestic and sexual violence.

The State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), recently disclosed that the youngest survivor was an 18-month-old baby while the oldest was 79 years old, stressing that sexual and gender-based violence cut across all age groups.