The Women, Youths and Children Advancement Programme, has called for more establishment as well as functionality of existing sexual offenders register in the country.
Mrs Agatha Osieke, the Executive Director of the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin on Thursday.
Osieke said that putting such registers in place as well as making them active would help in reducing Gender Based Violence (GBV) in the society.
NAN reports that a sexual offender register is a list of all convicted sex offenders in a state or country, it generally includes the offender’s address, physical appearance, and criminal history.
Osieke said: “we believe that if the names of sexual violators are published in the offenders’ registers, perpetrators will be scared to commit such abuse.
“They won’t want their names dragged to the mud, they will have a rethink and won’t want to bring shame to their name, family and community.
“It will go a long way in reducing GBV violence in the society because the names, faces and information of the offenders will be published in the register.’’
She also called for a more robust stakeholders’ approach in identifying as well as the reduction of GBV issues.
“All stakeholders must ensure that the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) law is implemented.
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“They should ensure that the VAPP law is given a human face so that the names of perpetrators are published, while survivors are protected,’’ she said.
