The United Nations Information Centre in Nigeria, on Tuesday organised an awareness forum for young girls in Lagos, to commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
The Officer-in-Charge of the centre, Olajumoke Araba, lamented that millions of women and girls around the world were being assaulted, beaten, raped, manipulated or even murdered in what constitutes appalling violations of their human rights.
She said the forum was aimed at raising public awareness as well as increasing resource for preventing and responding to all forms of violence against women and girls in the country.
She said, “We are urging young girls and women who have endured gender based violence and now face the stigma to speak out and end this culture of impunity.
“Its imperative that governments across the world challenge the culture of discrimination that allows such gender-based violence to continue.”
According to Araba, who read the UN Secretary General's address at the event, the world body launched the UNiTE campaign in 2009 to engage men as part of the solution to end gender-based violence.
At the forum young girls from different educational institutions who held various plenary sessions in groups called for an end to violence against women in the country.
