Five shelters have been opened in Cross River State, as part of efforts to provide quality care to survivors of sexual assault and related gender-based violence.
These shelters, also known as Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARC), are intended and equipped to provide medical, legal, social, and other assistance, as well as care for survivors’ recovery and reintegration.
The Cross River governor’s wife, Dr. Linda Ayade, represented by the Director General of the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. Janet Ekpenyong, officially launched the Calabar shelter in conjunction with a non-governmental organization known as Heartland Alliance Limited.
In a speech, Ayade acknowledged that the challenge of providing shelters for survivors of gender based violence would be over because the centres are intended to serve as one-stop shops.
She expressed hope that Sexual Gender Based Violence (SGBV) survivors, who seek shelter at the centres, would get the support needed to overcome the trauma, get justice as well as properly reintegrate into the society.
Also speaking, the Special Adviser to the governor on Women Affairs, Dr. Gertrude Njar described the prevalence of sexual assault as a global pandemic, which required the collective approach of concerned people to eliminate.
Njar said: “In Cross River–State, we are tackling Gender Based Violence especially sexual assaults hook line and sinker. We are determined in Cross River State to end SGBV because besides women and girls, men and boys also suffer these attacks.
“It is heartwarming to know that the governor’s wife, Dr. Linda Ayade is at the forefront in the fight to end all forms of GBV in our dear state. I must say here that a lot of the cases that have passed through the Ministry of Women Affairs have been prosecuted and convictions received in favour of the survivors,” she stated.
Similarly, the State Team Lead of Heartland Alliance Limited, the partners in the battle to eliminate sexual assault, Dr. Lawrence Ajayi said that the centre was established as a one-stop shop in line with the organization’s objectives to “prevent, reduce and manage cases of violence against key populations.”
