WARIF, The Guardian partner to tackle sexual violence

The Women at Risk International Foundation (WARIF) in conjunction with The Guardian is poised to tackle sexual violence in Nigeria.

Founder and visionary of WARIF, Dr. Kemi DaSilva-Ibru in a statement yesterday said the pact was in response to a series of sexual assaults, rape and human trafficking cases involving children, young girls and women.

According to her: “The first initiative of the foundation was to address a support system for women in need, by establishing the WARIF Centre, a Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) located at Yaba-Lagos, which was opened to the public since December 1, 2016.”

She explained that the services provided by the centre included medical treatment and forensic medical examinations; psychosocial counselling and social welfare such as accommodation, legal aid and vocational skills training.

“All the services are offered by a team of highly qualified medical doctors and social workers/ counsellors; in a warm and friendly environment that serves as a safe haven for all women in need,” she said.

The centre opens Monday to Saturday from 8.00a.m. -5:00 p.m. It has a 24-hour confidential helpline (08092100009) with support from Etisalat. She added that as a non-profit organisation, WARIF would rely solely on donor funding to implement its initiatives. WARIF would also offer free services at the centre to all visitors.

However, the involvement of The Guardian, beyond other supports, is to create awareness on free services provided by the centre and spotlight issues on gender-based violence now prevalent in communities.

DaSilva-Ibru said WARIF is proud to partner with The Guardian as its first media partner in raising awareness and by reaching out to more survivors of rape and sexual violence.

The Guardian Media Group in its partnership with WARIF promotes the initiatives of the foundation and plays a major role in awareness.

“The foundation was set up to develop and implement a series of initiatives targeting at intervention and treatment of survivors as well as providing preventive measures to address the challenge. Through advocacy and successful implementation of the initiatives, the vision is to build a community free of rape and sexual violence,” said DaSilva-Ibru.