Mr Ibrahim Sesay, Chief, Child Protection Section, UNICEF Nigeria has advised journalists to adopt ethical standard in the repotage of issues on Gender Based-Violence (GBV).
Sesay gave the advice in Abuja at a four-day media dialogue with media practitioners on “Ethical Reporting and Advocacy to Eliminate VAWG in the FCT.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the training wasorganised by the European Union, in collaboration with the United Nations Spotlight Initiative, with support from the United Nations Children’s Trust Fund (UNICEF).
He said that journalists should ensure that stories of those who survived GBV were written in an ethical way to reduce stigma.
Sesay said that stakeholders would partner with the media by galvanising efforts to ensure that they have strategic partnership.
He said that the partnership would help to mitigate and respond to risks against sexual and GBV on women in Nigeria.
“We need to protect the image of the survivors by looking at strategic ways of telling stories of those who survived and looking at their issues critically.
“The privacy of those who survived must be protected at all times, we should show empathy and not victimise them,’’ Sesay said,
According to him, people focus more on only women and girls while men and boys suffer the same problem.
“Statistics have shown that one in four girls experience sexual violence, about 19 per cent of girls marry before age 15.
“While one in five have experienced emotional violence. We should work toward reducing the number of people that experience GBV,’’ he said. (NAN)
