By Our Correspondent
The Lagos State Government, through its Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA), has inducted 210 students from Education District-5 into the Queen’s and King’s Club, after weeks of orientation.
Speaking during the induction at Agboju, a Lagos suburb, on Monday, the Executive Secretary of DSVA, Mrs TitiLola Vivour-Adeniyi, said that the students would serve as ambassadors of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV).
Vivour-Adeniyi said that there was a need to heighten awareness to tackle headlong the menace of SGBV prevalence in the state
She said that there was a need to bring perpetrators to book via the referral pathway laid down by the state government.
Vivour-Adeniyi said the initiative aimed at creating a sustainable social structure in educational institutions that would help debunk socio-cultural misconceptions.
The executive secretary said that it would promote empowered femininity and bring about behavioural and attitudinal change in the minds of young girls in Lagos State.
The initiative would also help to constitute an alliance of trained young girls and boys in schools who would serve as peer educators and advocates of positive femininity and masculinity.
She said that the club would expose the girls and boys to increased knowledge of Gender-Based Violence and Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH).
According to her, it will enable them to question dominant norms which promote gender inequities, as well as challenge the myths and misconceptions about violence.
”While the agency seeks to promote positive SRH behaviour, the initiative would also assist in the generation of data on the perception of girls and boys regarding Gender Based Violence (GBV) and SRH.
”Empowering and inaugurating the students into the King’s Club and Queen’s Club Initiative was expedient, as children are amongst the statistics of victims, prey to paedophiles and all forms of abuse,” she said.
One of the facilitators, Judith Osinaike, said the aim was to create a sustainable social structure in educational institutions in the state.
Osinaike, who is the Founder of the University Royalty Empowerment Foundation, urged the students to continue to strive for excellence and champion a world free of all forms of SGBV and to see themselves as ambassadors and change agents in society.
Meanwhile, after taking the pledge of allegiance, the students from Education District-5 were subsequently inducted into the club and awarded certificates and identity cards to validate their induction into the club.
Do you have a flair for Citizenship Journalism? Share story(ies) of happenings in your area with The NewsZenith on WhatsApp: 08033668669 or thenewszenith@gmail.com