Story: Rahamatu-Lahi Zakaria | Producer, Breakfast Live Show
Savannah Women Integrated Development Agency (SWIDA-GH) on 23rd February 2022 organised a refresher trainers of trainers training for students leaders for second circle and tertiary institutions in the Tamale Metropolis on sexual and gender-based as activists. This is in line with the activities outlined in the implementation of their KASA project.
The project lead, Abdul-Samed Khadija reiterated to the girls the importance of the gathering and encourage the girls to take every detail serious because it was going to come in handy to them in the discharge of their duties as far as this project is concerned.
The resource persons for the training included the head of the gender department in the region, Madam Bushira Alhassan and the executive director for Sanatu Zambang Studios, Mohammed Abdul Raafi. Madam Bushira took the ladies through procedures involved in seeking justice for victims of sexual and gender-based violence.
She also highlighted the terminologies associated with SGBV thus sexual harassment, sexual abuse, defilement and rape and what activities will determine which is which. She advised the ladies to take note of these terminologies and how they are used because this terminology is what is going to be used in the fight for justice for victims.
While Mr Raafi explained to the participant how they can use social media to raise awareness and also seek justice for victims without weakening the case. He also encouraged the participants to respect the privacy of victims saying that, some might be willing to share their story with them but that does not mean they want the whole public to know about their story.
The KASA project is funded by the Ford Foundation West Africa Office, Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) who have joined forces to address and reduce sexual violence, and its deep-rooted drivers, across West Africa.
The initiative, KASA! (Meaning ‘speak’ in the Twi language) Ending Sexual Violence in West Africa is leveraging the growing focus on sexual violence in the region and boosting feminist action and advocacy to reduce it. The project focuses primarily on Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal, KASA! It will focus on raising awareness of sexual violence as a violation of human rights and rally support to combat it.
The implementing partner, SWIDA-GH, is to train 200 female students in the Northern Region to amplify messages against sexual violence, organise radio and social media campaigns against sexual violence and sensitise healthcare professionals and law enforcement agents to improve services for survivors of sexual violence and hold perpetrators of such crimes accountable.
