The SGBV Tete-A-Tete App is part of the efforts of strengthening GBV awareness, Prevention and Response
By Stella-Maris Okwaranyia
A lot of Nigerians will soon acquire the knowledge and skills for psychological first aid that benefits survivors of sexual gender based violence (SGBV).
This is coming on the heels of the unveiling of SGBV Tete-A-Tete mobile app championed by the Centre for Women’s Health and Information (CEWHIN) in collaboration with Gender and Environmental Risks Initiative (GERI)
Speaking during the unveiling, Mrs. Atinuke Odukoya, CEWHIN Director of Administration, stated that the lockdown in Nigeria which came as a preventive measure for curbing the COVID-19 pandemic led to the increase in SGBV cases as many homes reportedly became unsafe for women.
She said, “More challenging is that almost 45 percent of the women who had experienced violence never sought help or told anyone about the incident. With a vision that seeks ‘a society where women and girls are empowered to realise their mental, social and physical wellbeing’, the overarching goal of CEWHIN’s implementation of this intervention was community-level capacity building for increased SGBV awareness, prevention, reporting, and access to mental health support services by women and girls in Benue state.”
Odukoya explained that the development of the mobile application came as part of the efforts of the “Capacity Building and Technology Adoption for Strengthening GBV Awareness, Prevention and Response through Community-Based Psychological Support” project with support from the US Embassy. Under the project, CEWHIN in collaboration with GERI has trained 76 community psychological first aiders (CPFA’s) across Makurdi, Otukpo and Ushongo local government areas of Benue State in 3 core areas- to Look, Listen and Link survivors of violence. With members of the Project Working Group offering Pro-Bono services in support of the project, CEWHIN had been able to leverage on key stakeholders within the state for effective execution and tracking of activities.
READ ALSO
NMA seeks technological investments in Nigeria’s health system
Why many Nigerians are misinformed about Covid-19
“Also, we have partnered with the Benue State Ministry of Health to list the ministries’ trained mental health experts on the GBV Tête-À-Tête mobile App to increase access to psychological support within the state,” she said. She added that the GBV Tête-à-Tête mobile app was developed to offer users multiple benefits for knowledge, social connect and community support, “it also offers capacity development for prospective community-based psychological first aiders and psychological support to GBV survivors.
Also speaking, the Acting Cultural Officer of the US Embassy Abuja, Peter Burba admonished organizations working on gender-based violence to engage more men in the activities.
“There is a new tendency to try to involve men in the workshops, in the conversations as well so that men also see this as an issue that applies to them.”
In her Keynote Address, the First Lady of Benue State, Dr. Mrs. Eunice Ortom who was represented by Mr Tine Agernor pledged to support all initiatives aimed at addressing the issue of gender-based violence. “GBV concerns every one of us even as GBV has received new awareness and we have many stakeholders taking action; we will agree that the area of psychological support has not received the desired attention.”
“When a woman is abused verbally by her husband or when a man is verbally abused by his wife, it is a challenge to see the emotional impact of this on people.” She however appreciated CEWHIN and other partners for their positive impact towards moving the state forward.”
As this app is used, CEWHIN is committed to listing more civil society organisations working in Benue State and subsequently other states on the app to make a robust directory of experts who work on gender-based violence, to aid quicker and more efficient responses to issues of violence against women and girls within the state. The GBV Tête-À-Tête mobile app offers psychological support, free capacity building on becoming a psychological first aider and a robust referral directory. The mobile available on CEWHIN’s website – www.cewhin.com/tete-a-tete-app and Google PlayStore provides a survivor-centred approach towards providing psychological support for survivors of violence against women and girls.
