Ogun plans home for gender-based violence victims.

Ogun plans home for gender-based violence victims.

The Ogun State Government on Wednesday said it would provide a befitting accommodation for victims of gender-based violence in the state.

Governor Dapo Abiodun made this known in his office at Oke Mosan, Abeokuta, when he received his wife and other women, who were on a roadshow as part of activities for the 16 Days’ Activism Against Gender-Based Violence in the state.

Abiodun, who acknowledged that gender violence had become pronounced among males and females in the country, pledged that the state government would provide a befitting building to serve as a shelter for people that have been sexually harassed or subjected to other forms of molestation in the state.

The shelter, he said, would save them from the stigma usually associated with the problem.

He added that the government would also work towards instituting Gender-Based Violence Trust Fund to finance the welfare of victims.

“You want us to ensure that we have a befitting shelter, and you made a case for that, and you emphasised the fact that people abused in the house or at home cannot go back home. There are those who do not have anywhere else to go back to. There is a lot of stigma associated with those who are abused.

“I believe that we have identified somewhere previously, but I am told that it may not be befitting.

“By this, I am now instructing the Secretary to the State Government to work with the Ministry of Housing to identify either a building; if they can’t find one, we identify a parcel of land and we will construct a befitting building to serve as the needed shelter for those persons who have been subjected to all kinds of sexual harassment,” the governor said