As a first line of self defence and to curb gender-based violence, GBV, the Osun Government has started training women and children on martial arts.
Osun State Commissioner for Women, Children and Social Affairs, Olubukola Olaboopo, disclosed this during a chat with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in her office in Osogbo.
She said the state was doing everything possible to reduce and eradicate violence against women, WAW, and children, adding that it was part of the reason the martial arts training was organised.
She said, “We are training our women and children on martial arts. We want them to self-defend themselves before help comes.
“COVID-19 and the #EndSARS protests affected the training, if not, we would have graduated 300 to 400 trained people.
“However, we are training about 100 people more right now and by January, they would have been perfect for them all to graduate.”
Ms Olaboopo said that there were laws in the state that protects women against violence, adding that the ministry was working earnestly to ensure that women, children and the vulnerable were always protected and justified when abused.
The commissioner said that the ministry was centrally handling rape and violence against women cases, in partnership with the Police and Ministry of Justice, so that victims could get justice and offenders receive appropriate punishments for their misdemeanor, adding, “We have a law that prohibits domestic violence and we are, as much as possible, ensuring that our women experience, if not zero level violence, at least to the barest minimum.
