NLC tasks Nigerians to speak out against violence and harassment

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) at the weekend has charged Nigerians to rise in unison and speak out against gender violence and harassment in whatever forms.
The Lagos State Council of the Congress who organised a three day campaign and training with the partnership of the American Solidarity Centre at the Mile 12 International Market from Wednesday March 24 to 26 said there is need to vehemently condemned the act as it contravene the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 190 which Nigeria was a signatory.
The chairman of the council, Funmi Sessi who led the training of the market stakeholders that involved all the section heads of the market emphasized the need for the market to ensure safety of all people that sell and buy in the market.
She lamented that there have been cases of sexual assault on minors in the market, advising the leaders of the market to sensitize the members against such vices as culprits may face imprisonment ranging from one to 14 years.
Sessi said though there are various forms of harassment, ranging from verbal abuse, physical abuse, phycological, but lamented that the worst form of all is the sexual abuse.
“We want to make it a matter of urgency to rid our society of any form of gender based violence in our community, be it home or place of work. We find it expedients to be here because people here spend most part of their day here,” she said.
She also said the market as an international market cannot afford to fall below global standard as buyers may come in from United States of America, Canada, Europe and others.
She said, “People should be able to enter the market without any form of harassment or being violated. Some things go on in the market out of ignorance, but there’s no ignorance in law. Dragging people to buy is an offence, if reported, it’s a year imprisonment.
“We should always speak out, should not be intimidated by threat, but ensure that judgement is meted out.”
The Labour leader said the market leaders should have set of rules, policies entrenched in its constitution to protect people coming into the market or working in the market.
She traced causes of harassment to include amongst others, inequality, most especially in the relationship between husband and wife, class difference where the rich oppress the poor, religion, ethnicity, saying that Nigerians could learn to live with each other without anyone lording it over others.
The Labour leader equally opined that those who assault do so not because of improper dressing, as there have been cases of people who dressed well or children still being molested.
She however charged the Federal Government to rise to the occasion of empowering most of those in the market without jobs to reduce incidents of social violence, explaining that study have shown that some of the youths exhibit violence tendency as a way of defiance to the society.
The Lagos State Council chairman kicked against using of minor to hawk or sell in the market, noting that most of the children are often raped, the act she warned that perpetrators henceforth would be sent to jail.
“Going forward, we want the leadership to constitute a committee to handle issues of violence and harassment, five men and five women, picked from different sections of the market. Any established issue should be dispensed quickly to serve as deterrent to others,” she stated.
The Chairman of the Mile 12 International Market, Shehu Usman Jubril however commended the NLC for the sensitization, noting that the leadership of the market now know better how to put the market on the globe.
“With the training, counseling and discuss, we are now more than ready to bring our people to date on what’s the expectation and behavioural patterns, not only in the market but outside here as well,” he said.
The Deputy Chairman and the Iyaloja Orisunbare, Modupe Ojo also noted that the training was very comprehensive, adding that it would help the youth in the market be mindful of how to behave from now on.
She revealed that in previous times, the leadership have had cause to expel or suspend deviants from the market and would not fail to do it again to bring sanity into the market.