Soroptimist International, Asaba Honours 20 Women…. The Theme of the event – This Is My Story

By Norbert Fidelis

It was a moment of joy and hope for twenty （20）selected victims of domestic violence as they were honoured by Soroptimist International, Asaba.

The occassion which was held at the prestigious Grand Hotel in Asaba on Monday was chaired by the Permanent Secretary, Delta State Min. Of Basic And Primary Education, who was represented by his Director, Mr. Eze.

The first speaker at the event and a Medical Doctor from the Delta State Primary Health Care Development, Dr. Paul Yinkore, described bad health as not just the infection or disease of the body but can also be psycological, emotional and mental adding that domestic violence is a form of maltreatment in a relationship.

Dr. Yinkore listed the various form of violence in a relationship to include, sexual violence, dating abuse, psycological abuse, Economic abuse among others. He said that violence in a relationship can be caused by, drug abuse, jealousy, unemployment, racial abuse and non specific cause as in some cases. He however said that the ugly trend can be curtailed if the perpetrators are brought to face the full weight of the law. Other solutions imclude, family planning, job creation, shared responsibility and counselling and rehabilitation of victims.

Also speaking at the occassion, a representative of the National,Human Right Commission （NHRC）Mr. Chinedu Atuche, said the problem they have is that victims don’t report their cases to the commission. He therefore called on the women to help them in doing their work by reporting cases of domestic violence to them.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the occassion Mr. Eze who, represented the Permanent Secretary of the Min. Of Basic And Primary Education, said domestic violence affects children performance in school as they always lack behind in their studies. He concluded by saying, that they are behind soroptimist in order to support them in all they do.

In her closing remarks, the President of Soroptimist Internationa, Asaba, Mrs. Stella Marris Ijeh admonished the women to appreciate each other and love one another in their fight against domestic violence. She also urged them to spread the message to other women. She condemned the attitude of some women who mock their fellow women when they are abused. She however said that Soroptimist decided to honour the twenty women because they feel and know that they’ve been hurt and traumatised in one way or the other, adding that they should report any case of domestic violence to them.

Soroptimist International has been in the fore front of fighting gender based violent against women as they’ve been holding various programmes and supporting victims in cash and kind.