Yar’adua foundation partners UNN on sexual harassment portal

Shehu Musa Yar’adua Foundation has partnered with the University of Nigeria Nsukka to o

Mrs Kemi Okenyodo, the Executive Programme Officer, Shehu Musa Yar’adua Foundation, Abuja, stated this on Thursday, at Nsukka, at the formal launch of the portal.

Okenyodo said with the portal, victims of sexual harassment, staff and students of UNN should no longer find it difficult  to walk into appropriate offices to report any acts of sexual harassment.

“Some victims of sexual harassment, especially rape, find it difficult because of shyness to walk into an office to report their matter to appropriate officers.

“But, with this sexual harassment portal any staff or student of UNN that is sexually harassed can stay in the comfort of his or her room to report the matter, as well as upload text, audio or video of what happened”, she said.

According to her, all the reports in text, audio or video uploaded by victims to the portal would be treated anonymously, so as to shield the identity of the person.

She urged victims of sexual harassment in UNN to always speak out by reporting the incident, so as to get help from appropriate authorities and shame the perpetrators.

“There is no shame in speaking out, the shame should be on the perpetrator.

“The portal  link for staff and students of UNN to report any incident of sexual harassment is, www.genderjustice. org. ng, ” she said.

In a remark, Prof Charles Igwe, Vice-chancellor of UNN, commended Prof Anthonia Achike, the Director, Gender and Development Policy Centre, UNN, for the partnership with the Yar’adua foundation.

Igwe expressed concern on the rising cases of sexual harassment, both in Universities in the country and offices, noting that with the portal, staff and students of the university would henceforth not have any excuses not to report acts of sexual harassment.

The VC, who was represented by Prof Eze Okonkwo, Dean of Postgraduate Studies, said UNN, as an institution, had zero tolerance and would continue to assist victims of sexual harassment to get justice, as well as ensure that perpetrators were brought to book.

“I urge staff and students of the university to avoid any acts of sexual harassment as UNN has zero tolerance to any form of sexual immorality.

“The motto of  UNN is: “Restoring the Dignity of Man” and my administration will continue to ensure that no dignity of a staff or student is abused

Earlier,  Achike noted that the culture of sexual harassment in the workplace and on university campuses posed serious threats to the wellbeing and empowerment of young men and women in Nigeria.

According to her, “sexual violence creates unsafe spaces for women, destroys their self-esteem and impedes their personal and professional development.

“Both men and women are victims of sexual violence; however, women are more susceptible due to an entrenched culture of bias that reinforces existing gender inequalities.

“The centre documents and severally emphasises the university administration’s zero tolerance stance for sexual harassment and readiness to go the extra mile to prosecute offenders,” she said.

The director also said disclosed that the key objectives of the portal was to promote the establishment of safe spaces for women and inspire young women to embrace gender equality,

“We have already done a test run of the whistle blowing portal with the university’s ICT unit, so you  can login to unn.genderjustice.org.ng to report any form of sexual harassment.

“Report any case of sexual harassment in this portal and be rest assured that your identity will be protected, while treating the case,” she said.

Achike expressed appreciation to the Yar’adua foundation for financing the project, as well as for providing technical support.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was attended by staff and students of UNN, as well as some civil society organisations. (NAN)