The Centre for Women’s Health and Information (CEWHIN) has spoken out against the high occurrence of incest in Osun State and asked religious leaders to do something about it.
At a two-day meeting with Muslim and Christian leaders in Osogbo on Tuesday, CEWHIN’s Executive Director, Mrs. Atinuke Odukoya, highlighted the need for all parties involved to come up with a plan to stop violence against women and incest.
“Considering the problems with data and statistics, the rate of gender and sexual violence in Osun state is very high.” There is a lot of incest in Osun state.
“So we decided to start talking to the authorities through important people like religious leaders. Religious leaders have more of an effect on our norms, behaviors, and attitudes than they want to admit.
“The goal is to talk to them directly. So, if you stop it on your end. Then society as a whole starts to see why it shouldn’t be a part of our norms. We are working to develop a collaboration that encourages prevention.
Professor Habeebat Oladosu-Usman from the University of Ibadan, one of the facilitators, stressed that religious leaders need to know what violence against women and girls is so they can teach their followers and congregation about how bad it is for society and put an end to it.
“Now that we know what violence is, how do we stop it? How do we fight it? Next, we need to talk and cease the practice of silencing women. Don’t say that! Don’t do this! He said, “The barriers are just too much; we need to break many of them.”
Dr. Ayeni Oluropo, CEWHIN’s in-house trainer, also added that following the training, the participants would come up with an action plan that could be put into action and closely watched to help reduce the problem.
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