A gender-based NGO, the Peace Advancement Action Against Violence and Rape Foundation, (PAAAVRF), has called for the use of test results from specialist hospitals as court evidence for rape cases.
The founder of the NGO, Mrs Vivien Abara, made the call during a programme organised by AIDS Prevention Initiative in Nigeria (APIN), to mark the World International Women’s Day on Thursday in Jos
According to Abara, results gotten from police clinics should not be the only results used as evidence in court for rape cases, adding that it stalled the justice seeking process for rape survivors.
She said that it was salient that rape victims were not charged for the tests conducted in these clinics and hospitals, as the act had stalled most rape survivors from seeking justice.
She also urged governments to make it a policy to prosecute families that withdrew rape cases, as the act of withdrawal was detrimental to both the rape victim and the society.
The founder said that the implication of such acts often allowed perpetrators of rape to continue to commit the nefarious act as such an individual was not prosecuted.
She also called for more awareness and sensitisation campaigns to be carried out in terms of rape and gender-based violence.
Earlier, the team leader, Community and Prevention Unit, APIN Public Health Initiative, Jos Office, Mrs Chidinma Stevens, said that APIN annually commemorates the World International Women’s Day to appreciate the fundamental role women play in the society.
Stevens said that the day provided an opportunity to challenge negative norms confronting the woman, especially the vulnerable among them.
She said that the cases of rape were often associated with HIV, adding that not having medical intervention as a result of the culture of silence, most of the rape victims got infected.
She said that APIN was advocating that when cases of rape happened, they should be reported immediately to a health facility.
This, the team leader said, would make the survivor get medication within the first 24 to 72 hours, reason being that post exposure prophylaxis if taken within the first 72 hours, the chances of getting infected is low.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that participants of the programme were also taught the act of soap making as a means of making them self-reliant. (NAN)
