The Bo office of Street Child SL has done a day’s s training on sexual and gender-based violence. The training took place at the HANCI road office for Street Child SL in the Bo district on the 28th of September 2022.
The facilitator was Martha Idris and the trainees were drawn from the child welfare committee, teacher’s mentors and social workers. The facilitator happens to be the Acting Assistant Director, Ministry of Gender, southern region. She told the trainees that our society is so ” patriarchal” that women have been unfairly subdued.
And therefore cautioned the male folks to treat their female counterparts with due respect. In her facilitation, she called on teachers ” to handle female pupils with the required professionalism”. She touched on the various forms of gender-based violence which include; sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse and economic abuse. Martha Idris said that the abuse is caused by “too much power” in the hands of men which needs to change. And also blamed it on poverty affecting our people.
A participant, Edith Sannoh cautioned also that since the advent of human rights women have tended to take advantage and abuse the system which is not acceptable. On the other hand, a teacher, Princess Massally urged community leaders to intervene and stop the abuse of girls.
Program Coordinator, Street Child SL Bo, Hawa Shour said she agreed that girls ” need protection but the boys can also be vulnerable”. According to Madam Shour, it is the third time that they are doing training of this nature and ” which is geared towards raising awareness on GBV and SGBV. That they at Street Child are complementing the effort of the first lady’s s Hands Off Our Girls program. It was rounded up with a question-and-answer session. And the vote of thanks was given by Mr Tarawallie.
