Health
THE Salama Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) in Kafanchan, Kaduna State recorded 3,977 cases of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) cases since its inception in 2019.
The Director of the centre, Mrs Grace Abbin, made this known in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
on Thursday in Kaduna.
She stated that women and girls were the most affected with 3,434 cases, with 543 men and boys affected in Zone three which
comprised eight local government areas.
She noted that 429 cases were of sexual assault on children and adults, while 3,548 cases were psychological or emotional and physical violence cases.
While breaking down the statistics, Abbin said the centre recorded and treated 219 cases in 2019, treated 582 cases in 2020, 1009 in 2021 and 788 cases in
2022.
She added that 822 cases were recorded and treated in 2023, while 557 cases were recorded from January to July 2024.
According to her, the culture of silence has been broken, adding that survivors need more support to be able to access justice .
The director stated that services at the centre are free, consisting of medical treatment, psychosocial counselling, optional legal intervention, among others.
She added that “through the intervention of Bridgethatgap, supported by UNWomen, we were able to engage survivors in Kachia
and Kaura local government areas in mental health psychosocial support.
“We need more funding to help survivors to access justice because lack of funding is making us lose evidence, thereby making justice
difficult.”(NAN
29th August, 2024.
C.E.
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