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Charity talks to Ruth Uzoma Aremu-Adetayo, a Nigerian Lawyer with a passion for Gender Advocacy about her work with Government Institutions such as Ekiti State Ministry of Women Affairs, SARC (Ekiti-state Sexual Assault Referral Center) & (MIRABEL CENTRE, Lagos) and Global Organizations like UNODC (United Nations Office on Drug and Crime & Expertise France)



















Uzoma, can you please tell us where your passion for Gender advocacy stems from?


My passion for Gender Advocacy stems from my childhood experiences. As a young girl, I realized that the female gender had no voice to speak out against the ill treatment they were facing in their homes, schools, offices for example. People rarely united to raise awareness about gender-based violence, challenge discriminatory attitudes nor did they call for improved laws and services to end violence against women for good.


Another example is that many perpetrators of gender-based violence, sexual assault and child trafficking go unpunished because the victims cannot afford legal representation. Many women and girl children are trafficked as sex slaves and when they are rescued, they are not financially stable to start life afresh.


Furthermore, physical abuse is used as a corrective measure by most men each time their wives or partners erred. For women, enduring intimate partner or domestic violence is seen as an act of submission in marriage. For example, a particular close relation of mine would lock up the door and beat up his wife at the end of every month until she surrendered her whole salary. Only then she would be allowed to go to work the next day. She never said a word to her parents nor friends until it led to her losing her pregnancy.


As a little girl, I wanted to transform into a gigantic cartoon character and beat up the man or look for someone to offer assistance to the woman because I just couldn't wrap my head around the whole situation- until it occurred to me as I grew older that abuse had been accepted as normal behaviour and considered an integral part of marriage.

It was heartbreaking to see that the global culture of discrimination against women allowed violence to occur with impunity and even the victims did not see anything strange about it.


I decided to go into Gender Advocacy to be the voice of the voiceless vulnerable sect in our society, the women and children (especially the girl child). I work passionately to provide free quality legal services in the form of advice, assistance and representation in court in order to secure, defend, enforce, protect or otherwise exercise any right, obligation, duty, privilege, interest or service to which victims are ordinarily entitled to under the Nigerian legal system.

 
















As a member of the Ekiti State Task Force on Human Trafficking you were one of the contributors to the compilation of the COMPENDIUM OF GOOD PRACTICES OF STATE TASKFORCES IN COMBATTING TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS IN NIGERIA FROM 2017 to 2022. 


Can you please elaborate on what these practices entail?


The Federal Government of Nigeria, (a signatory to the 2000 United Nations Convention on Transnational organize Crime (UNTOC) and its protocol to suppress, prevent, and punish Trafficking in persons, especially Women and Children,) was one of the first countries in Africa to take decisive measures against trafficking in persons  by the establishment of a specialised law enforcement, anti-trafficking agency, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP ). Inspite of this achievement, the challenges of trafficking Iingered thereby creating the need for a more strategic and detailed method engaged by different states in Nigeria in minimizing human trafficking and smuggling of migrants from one location to another. The Challenges in combatting human trafficking and some victories recorded by some states in Nigeria brought to fore the emergence of the Compendium of Good Practices in Combatting Human Trafficking In Nigeria (Compendium of Good Practices).


The Compendium of Good Practices highlights the experiences of the State Task Forces in a state-owned response to combat human trafficking in Nigeria from the time they were implemented. For example, between 2021 and 2022, the State Task Forces as first line responders have rescued and referred over 545 trafficked victims to NAPTIP.


Can you please tell us more about the contributions that you made?


As a member of the Ekiti State Task Force on Human Trafficking, I contributed to the Compendium of Good Practices by amplifying the dimensions of human trafficking peculiar to Ekiti State as well as the common routes for internal and external trafficking. This has been useful for project design and interventions to combat human trafficking and further meet specific needs of the state and other communities in Nigeria.

















On page 42 of the Compendium of Good Practices, during the door to door, secondary schools, marketplace and general sensitization events, my photo was uploaded to showcase my contribution to the sensitization programmes organized in secondary schools.


Further contributions I made include (but are not limited to);

The organization of a sensitization lecture in one of the largest churches in Ekiti State which led to the rescue and prevention of the trafficking of some ladies who would have been victims of human trafficking and the successful prosecution of the perpetrators.


Provision of care, and support services in accordance with the appropriate National policies and guidelines to victims/survivors of Domestic violence, such as;


I) Protection of victim/ survivors of human trafficking - for example by leveraging my relationship with the Ekiti State Ministry of Women’s Affairs, the ministry in charge of our Transit home to facilitate the accommodation of victims and survivors of trafficking until they are integrated back into the society


ii) Prevention of Human Trafficking - I invited the liaison officer of NAPTIP Ekiti-state to raise awareness by sensitizing the Living Faith Church, Headquarters in Ekiti State in their local dialects on the ills of human trafficking. For example, many people are not aware that paying an agent to get a house maid under the age of 18 is also a form of human trafficking.


iii) Rehabilitation - This involves victim referral for example, one victim identified in Ekiti State who has family in Lagos state Nigeria, was transferred to Mirabel Centre located in Lagos for pyscho-social support, legal aid and free medical attention


iv) Reintegration - for example the Embassy and Consular liaison assists in tracing the families of non-Nigerian trafficked persons. Also, in Ekiti State, survivors in our Transit Home enjoy vocational, entrepreneurship and economic empowerment and life skill building.


On entrepreneurship and economic empowerment, I provided accommodation for a pregnant victim, paid for her ante natal care until she gave birth, and the child was given up for adoption. She went on to learn a trade and was introduced to a non-governmental organization that helped establish a business for her.


You have also collaborated with other Organisations, such as those outlined below. Can you please enlighten us on who they are, what they do and highlight the work that you have done with them?


Ekiti State Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC).

















The Ekiti State SARC, also known as Moremi Clinic, is a free, one-stop, survivor-centered initiative that prioritises the rights and needs of survivors of sexual violence. It was established on the directives of His Excellency, Governor Kayode Fayemi, (the immediate past Governor of Ekiti State, Nigeria), by the Ekiti State Gender-Based Violence Law Management Committee, the body responsible for implementing the 2019 Gender-Based Violence Law in Ekiti State. The Ekiti State Gender-Based Violence Management Committee, with representation from relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) the legislature, and civil society organizations is responsible for policy formulation and management of the SARC.


The Moremi Clinic provides the following free services (including but not limited to):






Additionally, the Ekiti SARC comprises of the following operational teams: Rapid Response, Medical, Counseling, Police, Community Outreach and Legal – of which I am a member. In the legal team we provide free quality legal service for victims of sexual assault.


I collaborate with SARC by providing immediate crisis intervention, such as assisting to convey the victim of sexual assault to the hospital so evidence that can be used to prosecute the perpetrator can be preserved. For example, medical record showing a sign of forceful penetration and bruises of the female genitalia. I also provide confidential emotional support, information and advocacy to victims and their loved ones. As an advocate, I am part of a coordinated response team and facilitates medical and legal services while providing trauma-informed, victim-centered care. I explain legal options, orient victims about the operational team roles as they may have contact with them as a result of the crime thereby serving as a liaison between the victim and these operational teams that makes up the SARC. In all this, I ensure that victims are treated with respect by other service providers.


MIRABEL CENTRE, Lagos, Nigeria


The Mirabel Centre is also a sexual assault referral centre located in Lagos, Nigeria. They provide holistic medical services to survivors of sexual violence.


Each time I have clients who are victims of sexual assault and/or other forms of violence in Lagos and its environs (other cities closer to Lagos that do not have any Sexual Assault Referral Centres), I refer them to Mirabel Centre, and they assist by providing free medical and psycho-social services in the best way possible. I collaborate with them by conducting interviews and gathering of statements from the victims, witnesses, and possible suspects. This helps establish a timeline of events and identify any leads. For example, I collect physical evidence such as DNA samples, clothing, or personal belongings that may be relevant to the case as I transfer the said case to the Centre.


Global Organizations like United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC)


The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) was established to assist the UN in better addressing a coordinated, comprehensive response to the interrelated issues of illicit trafficking in person and abuse of drugs, crime prevention and criminal justice, international terrorism, and political corruption. These goals are pursued through three primary functions:


a) Research, guidance and support to governments in the adoption and implementation of various crime, drug, terrorism;


b) Corruption-related conventions, treaties and protocols and


c)  Technical/Financial assistance to said governments to face their respective situations and challenges in these fields.


Following study and research on the increased rate of human trafficking in Nigeria, there was a need for partnership with NAPTIP to organize, fund and invite experts to assist in training the state task forces. I was one of the lucky members of the Task Force in Nigeria that attended the training to improve stakeholders' response to Trafficking in persons, strengthen the Nigerian Justice system response to Trafficking in persons and smuggling of Migrants thereby drastically reducing Human Trafficking in Nigeria.


As a participant and contributor, I was able to be equipped enough to efficiently support, assist in the integration of survivors, provide protection, and do my utmost best to minimize human trafficking in my community. I therefore believe that the successful implementation of the 5-year National Action Plan put together during these trainings by NAPTIP, all stakeholders and development partners, will afford us a greater impetus to take the fight against Human Trafficking to an unprecedented height in the next five years, and we will experience enhanced synergy among key actors in the country. The ultimate outcome is the drastic decrease in the crime of human trafficking in Nigeria.


Finally, are there any other gender advocacy projects you would like to contribute to and collaborate on and why?


I would love to contribute to and collaborate with the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). This is because gender disparities often start small. In early childhood, girls and boys are just as likely to receive life-saving immunizations and participate in preschool. As they grow, girls are equally – or slightly more – developmentally on track than boys. However, adolescence brings significant change. The onset of puberty can expose girls to discriminatory practices that result in severe physical and mental harm. Compared to boys their age, adolescent girls face higher burdens of domestic work, disproportionate risks of child marriage, and greater threats of gender-based violence.


The girl children also face more severe consequences when cut off from critical care. Complications from pregnancy remain a leading cause of death and disability for adolescent girls in the least developed countries. This is especially the case for the hundreds of millions of girls who have been subjected to female genital mutilation, or for child brides, who often become pregnant at a very young age. Adolescent girls are more likely than anyone else to experience sexual violence. Additionally, among new HIV infections in adolescents, 75% of those are girls. To keep girls safe from harm, UNICEF programmes focus on preventing gender-based violence, ending child marriage, eliminating female genital mutilation, supporting menstrual health management, delivering HIV and AIDS care, meeting girls' specific psychosocial needs, and more. They invest in innovative models that protect even the hardest-to-reach girls – like virtual safe spaces that allow them to report violence and connect to local resources for support.


Ruth Uzoma Aremu Adetayo Lawyer-Gender Advocate  

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruth-uzoma-aremu-adetayo-a279511b1/


February 2025















Charity Mafuba,

Commissioning Editor,

Solicitor (England and Wales), New York Attorney