Anambra Guber: GPSDC Hails INEC, Security Personnel, Other Stakeholders For Their input Towards Nov. 6

The convener of the Stop Violence Against Women in Politics (Stop-VAWIP), Gender Perspective and Social Development Center (GPSDC), as before commends the efforts of all stakeholders, including security personnels, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and other civil society organizations (CSOs) for continuing to perform their roles and responsibilities for ensuring an inclusive, participatory, and secure gubernatorial election in Anambra State on November 6.

With just two weeks to the election, it is incumbent on stakeholders to double their efforts in support of the model elections we all desire.

Background

Stop-VAWIP is an initiative supported by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to counter acts of election violence such as threats, hate speech, assault, and blackmail, directed at women in politics. These acts of violence undermine women’s participation in the electoral process.

The goal of the StopVAWIP campaign is to help mitigate gender-based electoral and political violence that limits the full participation of women in politics and increase women’s participation in elections and politics. The Stop-VAWIP campaign is all about awareness-raising and public sensitization activities to amplify women’s voices, increase their access to political space, encourage government responsiveness and accountability, and build citizens’ resistance to acts of violence against women in elections.

The initiative also seeks to provide social and legal services to female survivors of violence, connect them to needed services through a referral mechanism, and lead advocacy for the implementation of the Violence Against Person Prohibition (VAPP) Law to mitigate violence against women. The campaign will also identify, document, and report data on violence against women in elections; refer survivors of violence to relevant support services. Our toll-free hotline, for tracking and linking VAWIP survivors with support service is 08004004444.Stop-VAWIP
Gender Perspective and Social Development Center (GPSDC) has trained and deployed 105
local mobilizers ahead of the November 6 gubernatorial election who are working in
collaboration with the Community Mobilization Officers (COMOs) of National Orientation
Agency (NOA).

Together, they are conducting voter sensitization, to raise awareness on what
constitutes VAWIP, encouraging women and youth participation in the election, and also linking
survivors of gender-based electoral violence to services across all LGAs to mitigate
electoral violence in the state. This is because women in politics continue to face strong
resistance from opponents of gender equality who use a wide range of tactics to undermine and
inhibit their participation in electoral or political processes.

These acts have been termed
“Gender-based Electoral or Political violence” and may include psychological abuse, economic
coercion, physical and sexual assault, cyber-bullying and gendered disinformation. Gender-based electoral and political violence has been encouraged by restrictive laws, cultural diversities and practices, institutional barriers, as well as unequal access to quality education, healthcare, and resources. Reversing this obnoxious trend can be achieved by implementing the right mechanisms.

In 2016, NDI launched the #NotTheCost campaign to stop violence against women in politics,
declaring that women’s participation should not come at the cost of violence or even the threat
of violence. Violence against women in politics doesn’t just affect its immediate target; it also
sends a message to other women that violence awaits them in the political space and to the
society at large that women should not participate in politics.

This ugly trend also fosters women’s intergenerational exclusion from politics. Feedback from the roundtable meeting.

The following factors were identified as barriers to Women Participation in Anambra State
Electoral Process
 Religious ideologies
 Cultural beliefs and practices
 Financial constraints
 Violence and intimidation
 Lack of family support
 Problem with the implementation of laws protecting women
 Poor perception of women in politics
 Women don’t show support for other women (Pull her down syndrome)
 Inadequate education
 Exclusion of women from decision making
 Lack of encouragement for women who are interested in politics
 Poor sensitization about the merits of having women in politics Fear of the unknown (the political space is unstable)  Prevalent patriarchal system in the state  Indifference to political by some women  Absence of political agenda in women meeting  Most women will rather pray than come out to vote How women feel about the coming gubernatorial election in Anambra State Women are afraid to come out to vote because of the increase in violence in the state and won’t encourage their children to participate in the coming election. Way forward
 Get the separatist groups to dialogue and get them to make a pronouncement of peace  Women should come together and pray for the state as well as make plans that affect them politically.
 Sensitization on the advantage of having more women in politics  Conflict resolution with regards to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) still in detention
 The state government should improve the present security situation and assure citizens of their safety
Conclusion
The Stop-VAWIP Response Committee is committed to awareness-raising, advocating for behavioural change, sensitizing citizens on gender-based violence (GBV), tracking and responding to cases of Gender-based Electoral or Political Violence, and improving women’s political participation in the state. The Committee will also continue to encourage women’s participation in electoral and political processes. For media inquiries please contact:

Mr Emmanuel Ubajekwe +234 7035810100 (Stop-VAWIP)
Learn more about #StopVAWIP @ GPSDC/Stop-VAWIP (Instagram) @StopVAWIP on Facebook or visit our website @www.stopvawip.com. Long live the people of Anambra State. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Thank