Violence against women poses serious consequences to their health and well-being. The most severe consequence is death. Violence is associated with a range of short- and long-term physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health problems for victims of intimate partner and sexual violence. Violence against women also affects their children and can lead to high social and economic costs for women, their families and societies.
COVID-19 has created new urgency for action. Isolation and distancing measures, coupled with stress, anxiety, social and economic worries, may increase risk of violence in the home. As risk factors for violence increase, protective factors decrease, including access to needed health and protection services.
The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence is an international campaign to challenge violence against women and girls. In support of the campaign in 2020 which held under the global theme, “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!”, Access Bank partnered with Hacey Health Initiative a health focused organization to implement a program aimed at preventing and eliminating violence against women and girls in Laagos, Nigeria.
As part of the campaign activities, a Kickout Gender Based violence campaign was held, utilizing the launch of FIFA 21 for game lovers as a springboard to generate discussions on ending gender baser violence; a webinar was also held to discuss the challenges and opportunities for leveraging innovation and technology to end gender-based violence; and the ‘End Rape Culture’ website was launched with the aim of promoting messages stories that encourage survivors to report and increase awareness.
Over 200,000 people were reached with information on ending rape culture and gender-based violence via traditional and social media platforms. The webinar also garnered over 310 participants and 297 people engaged in the game competition.
