Female lawyers call for protection, education of girl child

 Some female lawyers in the Federal Capital Territory have called on the society to rise to the challenge of protecting the girl child.

The lawyers gave their convergent views while speaking separately in Abuja on Friday.



Mrs Kachi Ibeh said that the socialisation process, the attitude of the society and strengthening of the laws should be helpful in the task of protecting the girl child.

``Training a woman is not an option; it has become a necessity because women at all levels are trainers.

``As a little child, the girl child assumes responsibilities earlier than the boys; as of that moment, she begins to manage people.

``For a woman to perform at all levels, education is the key and it is basic now for the girl child,” she said.

Ibeh said that the girl child was always the one available at the background to run things, while she would also be the last the mother would allow to go off.

``Mothers should come to realise that it is now very basic and necessary that their daughters be educated.

``Mothers have what it takes to do what is necessary to see their girl children educated, because when a woman is determined, there’s no stopping her.

``She will certainly get there and the laws are there, but the issues borders on implementation,” she said.

She, however, called for the support of men, saying the women could not do it all alone.

``Whatever we want to do to protect the girl child, as well as women, the men must be on board; women alone cannot do it.

``We need our men to understand that we have equal rights and privileges as any other human being.

``Also, by reasons of the peculiar nature of the girl child, a woman is peculiar in her own makeup.

``There are things about her that you violate and you can’t put right again, no matter how hard you try,” she said.

Ibeh said this peculiarity also entitled women to little but special attention which men must be made to understand.

``Respecting all of these would be a way forward, because whatever happens to the woman reflects on the society at one level or the other,” she said.

Another respondent, Mrs Chinelo Eruchalu, expressed concern over the maltreatment most girl children go through, particularly the house-helps and children from less privileged homes.

She lamented that while there was the establishment of the Child Right Act, those who subject children to such miserable experiences still go undetected and without punishment.

``The establishment of the Act is to protect the right of the child and to ensure that children get parental care, protection and maintenance.

``However, the inability of most families to guarantee the protection and maintenance of the child has led to the countless challenges the country faces today.

``When the Act becomes effective through proper usage, any breach of the fundamental rights of the child will be challenged in court; for the Act protects the human rights of the child," she said.

She, therefore, called on relevant authorities to be more proactive in this direction and to do all that was necessary to ensure the Act became functional.

She also regretted the inability of some states to domesticate the law even though it was passed in 2003 by the National Assembly.

Eruchalu reasoned that since girl children were reflections of the society and in fact, the most vulnerable in the society, they deserved special protection.

Clued from :NAN