Revealing shocking statistics, a coalition of non-governmental organisations known as Women’s Aid Collective (Wacol), pointed out that in some cases girls as young as between five and 10 years old were assaulted. Wacol executive director Joy Ezeilo, added that that between March last year and now, over 400 cases of sexual abuse against women and girls had been reported.
Mrs Ezeilo, who lauded the partnership between the organisation and the Enugu State Police Command, said it received reports of over 200 rape cases within the last one year and was providing free legal services for the victims. She described rape as endemic, noting that the stage of denials is over as it is a common knowledge that children between the ages of one and 10 years are now very vulnerable.
.“So, today, we are leading in this campaign to call on mothers to protect their children, we are calling on the men to join in the war against this madness and we are calling on states to come up with laws that would be used to defeat this social malady. Right now there is a case we are handling in which a particular primary school child suddenly started living a life of withdrawal, the teacher who had known her for long, made enquiries and discovered that her father has been abusing her.
“This brings us to the issue of cause of rape and why it is on the increase? Some people talk of dressing but it is not true as you have to ask yourself about what of a 10 month old girl and we have a case now of an 80-year-old great grandmother, who was raped while she was sleeping, what is the reason, is it also her dressing?" Mrs Ezeilo added.
She urged society to take up the cases of rape seriously, stressing that it should be reported as sexual violence is an abuse of human rights. Mrs Ezeilo added that rape should not go un-punished.
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