Pauline Tallen, Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, revealed that nationwide, only 16 cases of Gender Based Violence (GBV) have resulted in convictions.
Reacting to the rising state of the menace which she said was taking an epidemic level in the country, Tallen who disclosed this during a media briefing in Abuja, at the weekend, further disclosed that while160 of such cases were fatal, 231 were closed, 936 were still ongoing.
Tallen criticised the judicial system for its slow judicial process and urged the Ministry of the Interior to immediately include psychiatric evaluation as a requirement for marriage.
Lamenting the lack of funding for the fight against GBV, the minister stated that only organisations such as the EU and the UN Spotlight Initiative have provided assistance.
In a similar vein, she stated that domesticating the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act and the Child Rights Act was insufficient without addressing implementation, which she reiterated had been a significant issue.
She said the Nigerian society must move with the reality of the times as, “we can no longer tolerate wickedness, greed, envy and malicious acts under the guise of culture.
“As we are dealing with the case of Osinachi Nwachukwu as one-more-case- too-many of GBV, we were again greeted this time with so many others.
“Perpetrators need to be told that Nigeria is a society with Zero Tolerance against GBV.
“As a first step to ensuring that we bring an end to this issue, I will initiate a conversation with the Minister of Interior to ensure that psychiatric test is made compulsory as part of marriage requirements in the country.
“We must play our part in moulding our male children to become better adults who can take on marital responsibilities without feeling insecure. We must put an end to the society’s culture of reinforcing male dominance.”