Anambra Guber: PRELIMINARY STATEMENT BY STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN POLITICS

Women Should not be Prevented from Voting in Anambra Governorship Election…

Stop-VAWIP is an initiative supported by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The convener of the Stop Violence Against Women in Politics (Stop-VAWIP), Gender Perspective and Social Development Center (GPSDC) commends the efforts of all stakeholders, including security personnel, 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 less than 24 hours to the election, it is incumbent on stakeholders to double their efforts in support of the model elections we all desire, which includes the full participation of all citizens.
Background
The Stop-VAWIP program is an initiative that establishes the link between gender-based electoral violence and the low level of participation of women in politics.

Aince 2015, the Stop-VAWIP Response Committee has consistently documented incidences of violence against women during the off-cycle governorship elections in Bayelsa, Kogi, Osun, Kaduna, Rivers, Edo, and the recently conducted governorship election in Ondo State. The campaign has raised awareness on violence targeted at women during elections and conducted advocacy to relevant stakeholders on the need to mitigate violence against women in politics and provide effective survivor response services where it occurs.

Survivors Service Centre (SSC)
The Stop VAWIP Response Committee, under the coordination of GPSDC, has established a Survivors’ Service Centre in Awka to respond to distress calls from victims of physical and psychological electoral violence against women. The SSC is equipped with three hotlines obtained with the support of the Anambra State Ministries of Justice and Women Affairs and the police. The hub serves as the central location for all operations, including where incidents of violence against women from the hotlines are tracked and crucial support is provided to survivors through collaboration with security services, the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Women Affairs, National Orientation Agency (NOA), lawyers, medical services and other relevant stakeholders.

The Stop VAWIP Hotlines
Before the election, the Stop-VAWIP partners widely publicized the campaign hotline – 0800-400-4444 – on radio shows, posters, PSAs on TV, and billboards. With reporting mechanisms in place such as the hotline, perpetrators of electoral violence may become more averse to committing offences against women. Women of Anambra State will have the confidence to participate in the election, knowing the concerns of women are being addressed. The Campaign partners urge voters to use the hotline as an effective medium of tracking and reporting incidents of violence against women and other gender-related violence.

Response Protocols
The Stop-VAWIP campaign deployed a critical system for coordinating service delivery and timely access to services for survivors: the response protocols. Through the protocol, hotline operators would share incident information with key stakeholders with the mandate to respond to such incidents. These stakeholders constitute the Stop-VAWIP Response Committee whose duty is to evaluate cases as they are received and determine how to verify and address them. As incidents are verified, the response protocols deploy respondents to survivors and/or the location of the incidents for on-the-spot security protection, health services, and referrals, where necessary. These respondents include police, social workers, the Red Cross and other survivor support services in communities, such as shelters and counsellors.

The Stop-VAWIP Coalition
In a bid to amplify the voice of women and increase women’s visibility in the political space, a Stop-VAWIP coalition was formed with women-led Civil Society Organizations in the state. They include Anambra State Association of Town Union (ASATU) Women’s Wing, Nigeria League of Women Voters, Women for Women, Stage for Women Development, Women with Disability, Idikacholu Women in Governance (IWIG), 100 Women Lobby Group, Umu Ada Igbo Anambra, National Council for Women Society, Women in Politics, Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Legal Aid Council of Nigeria (LACON), Catholic Women Organization (CWO), Mothers Union (MU), National Human Rights Commission (Gender Unit), Other Women-led Civil Society organizations, National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ).
Challenges Women Face in the coming gubernatorial election in the state
● There’s palpable fear among voters due to pre-election violence experienced across the Anambra state during political party campaigns. The vast majority of registered women voters interviewed stated categorically that they may not participate in the electoral process due to cases of violence.

● The heavy presence of security agents may act as a barrier to women’s participation in the coming election. The major security threat is that posed by unknown gunmen. Women are concerned that the presence of security agents in the state may not be enough to stop attacks from unknown gunmen.

● Female voters may go to their various polling units late because most would want to monitor the security situation first before coming out to vote.

● Women noted the exodus of women voters due to fear and others may be prevented from voting due to insecurity.

Findings from our baseline survey
The outcome of a baseline survey conducted by Gender Perspective and Social Development Centre (GPSDC) ahead of the gubernatorial elections, showed that 94.35% of female voters are of the opinion that violence in elections will discourage them from participating in the elections. The state has experienced a myriad of attacks by ethnic militias and political actors throwing a lot of violence in the polity. “The women of Anambra are afraid of participating in political processes in the state due to the current killings and happenings in the state. They are likely not to vote and to speak their children out of voting”. This statement was recorded at the recent meeting in Awka, where women groups gathered to discuss the barriers to women’s political participation in the state. The survey also showed that women in the state are aware of the specific fear that exists in the state. 40.2% of the respondents agree that physical violence is at a high rate and followed closely by 28.91% who attribute it to culpable threats and coercion against women in the state. In spite of the assurances provided by various security agencies, citizens especially women have resulted in various religious prayers to solve the electoral impasse.
Conclusion
The Stop-VAWIP Response Committee is committed to awareness-raising, advocating for behavioral change, sensitizing citizens on gender-based violence (GBV), tracking and responding to cases of GBV, 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 you.