By joshua 
Preventing Gender based violence has been described as a collective responsibilities of all stakeholders as the impact of such violence affects the larger society.
Eunice Agbogun, Executive Director, Challenged Parenthood Initiatives, gave the charge at a summit on preventing violent extremisim with the theme: Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a Covid19 World, organised by ActionAid Nigeria, with funding by Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF), held at Koton Karfe, Kogi LGA of Kogi State.
Speaking at the summit, Eunice Agbogun lamented that one in every three women in the world, and 35% of women all over the world have experienced gender based violence, with 7% women discovered to have been sexually assulted, described the statistics as scary and unfortunate.
She advised women to make the education and empowering the girl child a priority, pointing out that until the religious, Community, and opinion leaders take a stand against preventing violent extremisim, the future looks bleak, as the statistics of gender based violence is constantly on the rise.
Gender based violence according to Eunice is a serious problem that affects the dignity of the girl child, said aside causing pregnancy, it impacts negatively on the educational development of the girl child, said the time to stand up to the realization that it is a time bomb that affects the family and society remains now.
She cautioned mother’s against hiding under the shame of not wanting to report gender based violence to desist, said the time to speak up and protect the girl child cannot be downplayed.
She advised mother’s to report to the relevant security and other agencies when a girl child is abused, expressed optimism that when the VAPP Bill currently in the Kogi State Assembly is passed, issues of gender based violence would be drastically reduced and the necessary punishment metted out to pepetrators.
She appealed to Mothers to be educated and to also educate their children on sex education, pointing out that the time to start teaching them the things to know in preventing them from the menace of gender based violence and abused should begin now.
The Women Summit on Preventing Violent Extremism is a project under the SARVE 11 Project organised by ActionAid Nigeria, and is a program being implemented by Participation Initiative for Behavioural Change in Development,
PIBCID, was an event that took place simultaneously in 12 locations across Kogi State.