Nigeria Association of Women Journalists, NAWOJ, Imo State Chapter, on Thursday called on Women and the girl child to stand up against violence as well as the practice of Female Genital Mutilation, FGM, in society.
NAWOJ State Chairman, Dorathy Nnaji, made this call at this year’s International Day for the Girl Child held in Owerri.
According to her, discrimination and the practice of FGM, were among the obnoxious practices that reduced the girl child to mental subjugation.
To end it, Nnaji said: “Good knowledge of culture is important for the overall development of the Girl-child. This is part of what needs to be done but it’s not every cultural practice that needs to be imbibed.
There are obnoxious cultural practices that need to be jettisoned and for the developmental cultural imperatives, the girl-child needs to learn and imbibe the practices.
It is however through sound education that you will be able to decipher right from wrong cultural practices. I call you to become more sensitive to culture to achieve the best human development index.
“Issues such as Female genital mutilation (FGM), Obnoxious practices against women, Violence against the Girl-child and women, and all forms of discrimination against women and the female gender, etc., the Girl-child should be enlightened enough to stand up against such Obnoxious actions.
We advise the empowerment of the Girl-child both knowledge-wise and economic-wise to enable her to stand to liberate womanhood from mental subjugation and imprisonment of the mind. In addition to professional training and academic heights, acquisition of skills and development of entrepreneurship skills is key for the emancipation of the Girl-child.”
It was her opinion that “In the very past, during the period our people were predominantly illiterates, there used to be a wrong perception that women do not necessarily need education since any training done to their ends with their getting married away to another family. It was during that time that it was said that Women’s Education ends in Kitchen.
“That is not only a fallacy of perversion of reality but a jaundiced perception that stagnated generations of the past. The world remains in the darkness of ignorance until the female gender is liberated from the claws and shackles of stagnation. The Girls are leaders, Changemakers, agents of growth in the world. Girls are fundamental in the strive to activate gender equality.”
The event was well attended by the members of the Imo state House of Assembly, led by the Speaker, Paul Emeziem, Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Imo State Chapter, led by the Chairman, Chris Akaraonye, Chairman Correspondent Chapel, Chris Njoku, as well as women from different security agencies, school children among others.
VANGUARD.
