By Joy Odigie
A coalition of international communities, working on mitigating sex trafficking, has called on the Nigerian government to enact a law criminalising sex buying in the country.
The coalition also advocated that the Nigerian government should adopt the Sankara Equality model, a legal framework that recognises the system of prostitution as a form of Gender-based violence.
Speaking at a press conference on sex trafficking on Thursday in Benin, Esohe Aghatise, Executive Director of Associazione Iroko Onlus, said the Nigerian government needs to put concrete actions in place to tackle human trafficking.
Aghatise said, ”Law makers should form policies that address the demand for sex trafficking.
”We need to change the mindset of seeing women and girls as disposable items. Women and girls should be given same opportunities as men and boys.”
Also, Jonathan Machler, Executive Director, Coalition of the Abolition of Prostitution, said that prostitution is a form of violence and not a job.
Machler regretted that vulnerability pushes people to prostitution, noting that penalising sex buyers would go a long way in addressing human trafficking.
On her part, Itohan Okungbowa, Executive Secretary, Edo State Task Against Human Trafficking, said that the establishment of the Taskforce had helped in reducing Human Trafficking in the state.
Okungbowa said that the task force had secured conviction of seven traffickers while over 47 cases were ongoing in court.
Edo Commissioner for Arts and Culture, Dele Obaitan, added that Nigerians should go back to their cultural values and morals that teach decency.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was organised by “The Gloria Steinem Equality Fund to End Sex Trafficking” and its local partner, Associazione Iroko Onlus.
The event was jointly supported by the Embassies of Argentina, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the United States as well as the UN Women. (NAN)
