APRIL: OUR MONTH OF THE CHILD

The month of April saw a global campaign against Child Sexual Abuse, with people all around the world garnering efforts towards putting an end to the ill globally. Facts as elicited in our previous post here prove that Child Sexual Abuse is on the increase, leaving many children at risk if the menace is not controlled.

As an institution set up with the primary goal of providing information as regards social causes, The Nineteen Initiative commenced a campaign on media platforms, Instagram, Twitter and WhatsApp  and physical outreaches which are still ongoing to arm as many people as we can with vital information on the topic.

To kick start the awareness month, we had a volunteer and guest writer, Tosin Folarin, a Child Sexual Abuse Exper host a series on the blog where she gave an overview of the topic, statistics to show the frequency of occurrence, potential risks factors, prevention measures and who to contact in case of an abuse.

The month also saw the publication of daily prevention tips where we used pictures to communicate risk factors and ways of preventing them. These pictures were published on various whatsapp and Instagram pages; ours and volunteers’.

In the course of the month, we trained Nigerian Youth Service Corps members (of the Gender and Servicom Community Development Service group, Eti-Osa 2 Local Government Area) on Child Sexual Abuse through qualified volunteers, Tholu Rolands and Tosin Folarin. The training was geared at providing the corps members with necessary information to disseminate in their awareness campaign held in Eti Osa 2 Local Government Area, Lagos.

The major campaign was scheduled to hold in Lagos market, Nigeria. Our volunteers set out in the early hours of 10:00 am on the 21^st April, 2018 to create awareness on Child Sexual Abuse in Lagos Market, Lagos Nigeria.

The outreach was preceded by action research carried out by our Convener, Bamise who visited the Lagos Market to conduct action research in order to find out if the outreach was necessary in the market. Research revealed the fact that most merchants brought children to the market and left them unattended at the mercy of persons present and visiting the market. Edwina, a volunteer also visited the Sexual Offences Court to discover the prevalence of child sexual abuse in Nigeria which revealed a high prevalence of the menace. We set out armed with leaflets to spread the news about the realities of child sexual abuse, the risk factors and ways of preventing an occurrence while giving contact details of organizations to reach out to in case of an abuse.

To get more details on the outreach, make sure you read our next post that wraps up the details of our Eko Outreach.

The menace of Child Sexual Abuse is real and Lovina Ashedzi, in this poem says a lot about it.

Help Me!

My innocence is being snatched, snagged and munched as snack every second.

I am like a victim of ablepsia seeking a
guide of a walking stick to be an aid to
my adulted blindness, Like an acquainted  stranger in findings to my destined   destination when I ran into this Inhuman Humans whose tooled-heart is rusted and got their tetanus infused into my virgin vein.

I was told education is the key to unlocking my padlocked-knowledge, the Teacher is the Saint  Preacher of wisdom to my soul.
This was packed and  pushed down the throat of my  mind.

But-
in knowing what the pen is,
I got a wrathed- penn-is penetrate
my "pee-way" instead.

I was told blood is thicker than water
But-

I watched my blood rip me off of my untainted mind with their finger breathing in and out of me.
They fondle with my tenderness to satisfy their hungry urge.

I am tagged a minor and a minus of a certain privilege
But-
Unknown to "Mama" I am turned into a donor of sexual pleasure, treasure in large measure.
They blind fold me with lies and threat of death if dared say it to any not to mention many.
They accuse me of being a dummy.
But I ask in a dim voice

Is my bit bitten bitterness not your doing ?

Who can hear the voice of this voiceless soul? Who sees the eyes of this blinded mortal and Who is willing to end this acquaintance violence against me?
For-
I am a Child ,a Human and
never a fuse for a use.

Assist me! Stop insisting on me please!

©️Lovina Ashedzi Emmanuel

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