Advocacy groups involved in the campaign against violence against women and the girl child in Bayelsa State, the Gender Response Initiative Team (GRIT) has commended the State Governor, Gov. Douye Diri for his administration’s commitment to fight against violence against women and children in the state.
According to GRIT, the present administration in the state has made a positive shift in the  interventions of advocacy groups on issues of gender based violence through the setting up of GRIT to put in place workable structures to promptly tackle and deal with sexual and gender Based Violence cases in the State.
The Chairperson of GRIT, Barr. Dise Sheila Ogbise, in a speech to mark the occasion of the 16 days activism against gender based violence with the theme “’Orange the World: End Violence against Women now!â€, stated that the various advocacy groups led by GRIT has recorded successes in the fight against gender based violence due to the positive disposition of the present administration at taking the bold step to set up GRIT which now has the responsibility of dealing with issues of violence especially gender based violence in the state.
 According to Sheila Ogbise, the GRIT office in the state is more proactive at dealing with the voleum of calls on incidences of violence against women and the girl child,†office records cases of violence against women and girls that overwhelms the strength of the Team. For every one hour, we receive 10 calls and complaints from different parts of the state either as a victim or a whistleblower. These cases ranges from physical assault, domestic violence, abandonment, sexual abuse in the form of rape and defilementâ€.
“We want to say a big thank you to the prosperity Government ably led by His Excellency, Senator Douye Diri, for taking the bold step to Inaugurate the Gender Response Initiative Team, GRIT which has now been given the responsibility of dealing with issues of Violence especially gender based Violence in the State. To this, we can also boldly say that there is now a positive shift in our interventions on issues of gender based violence as the prosperity Government has through GRIT put in place workable structures to promptly tackle and deal with sexual and gender Based Violence cases in the State.â€
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“However as we commemorate this year’s sixteen days of Activism, it is important that we remind ourselves that there are more bridges to cross. The efforts of organizations through collaboration and partnership have positively significantly impacted on the fight against Gender Based Violence and we should continue with the spirit of such togetherness.
“As we commorate this year’s 16 Days of activism for the elimination of violence against women and girls with the theme ‘Orange the World: End Violence against Women now! Let’s raise our voices louder as we fasten our seatbelts to demand for a safer and better society for women from all forms of violence which includes violence against women in politics, at workplace and in all spheres of their daily livesâ€.
We must all take conscious steps to “Orange the World and End Violence against Women Now!Â
The gender Response Initiative Team is committed to bringing to bare the prosperity agenda of the Bayelsa State Government on gender related issues. As we join the rest of the world to mark this global event, let me on behalf of team GRIT thank all our critical stakeholders and partners who have made this fight successful. Members of the media, have being a dependable ally, donor agencies, top Government officials and well-meaning individualsâ€.
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