HACEY Health Sensitises Students on Gender-based Violence

Ugo Aliogo and Kehinde Lawal
In commemoration of the annual 16 Days of Activism, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), HACEY Health Initiative has organised an art workshop tagged ARTagainstGB, to sensitise young people about the issue of gender-based violence (GBV).

Speaking at the workshop, the HACEY health’s Executive Director, Rhoda Robinson noted GBV is one of the most notable human rights violations “within our societies today.”

Robinson explained the workshop was designed to increase awareness of the negative impact of violence against women and girls.

She said it would enhance efforts and galvanize resources towards preventing and responding to violence against women and girls.

She added the workshop was also geared towards building the capacity of men and boys on their role in eliminating GBV in their homes, local communities, academic institutions and workplaces.

In the same vein, the Project Lead Coordinator, Chioma Osakwe, represented by Project Officer, Jolaade Olatunbosun, said the workshop provides young people with an opportunity to speak up against gender-based violence using art as a tool for advocacy.

“It aims to promote a society free of gender based violence by improving people’s understanding on the matter and challenging societal norms that perpetuate violence against women and girls through art projects designed to depict every day examples of issues women and girls experience.

“This workshop will engage 50 young people across Lagos State in the creation of art projects using paintings, drawings, mosaic and collage to tell stories around gender-inequality, particularly gender-based violence as a means to challenge social norms, and drive efforts that help advance the rights of women and girls,” Osakwe said.

She added materials created from the workshop will be displayed at the ARTagainstGBV Exhibition.
Students came up with paintings to take a stand against GBV using an illustration that was projected to them.

The painting exercise followed an interactive session between the students and the team.
They were also conducted round different forms of drawing about dimensions of GBV to lay credence to what the team had divulged to them while they were asked to identify the GBV category of each drawing.