Tina Amanda
Parents, guardians, and caregivers have been urged to keep a close eye on every child in their area, communities, and state, irrespective of the relationship, as every child deserves to be protected against all forms of abuse, violence, and sexual molestation.
Chairperson International Federation of Women Lawyers FIDA Rivers State, Adata Bio-Briggs, made the call while sensitizing a group of Girls Brigade teenagers and young adults in Port Harcourt, on the Girls Right Law as provided under the Rivers State Child Right Law and VAPP Law.
Bio-Briggs emphasized that lots of children and young girls are, on daily basis, victims of several cases of abuse such as child pregnancy, rape, child trafficking, and violence amongst others, which makes them vulnerable.
According to her, it is time parents, guardians, and society at large begin to give proper attention, care, and love to every child around them to curb the child abuse menace that has eaten deep in the society.
“Everyone should watch out for a child, the young girls are vulnerable, and they are prone to getting pregnant. The society should watch out for every child out there, and talk to them about what to do and what not to do.
“The society we now live in is not like the society we all grew up in; is time we are our brothers’ keeper. Watch out for every child, no child is an Island, we should go back to that way of looking out for one another then our society will improve”.
She, however, cautioned young teenagers to abstain from every form of sexual activity, as it results to sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancy, and death thereby hampering the fulfillment of their potential.
“We talked to them about when to same no to sexual advances, the right time is when the girl is married or when she is enough matured to take decisions for herself not when she is still a child. Any person below the age of eighteen (18) is a child.
“There are lots of reasons a girl should not start having sexual engagement because she’s at risk of pregnancy, the shaming is on her and not the boy, her life, future plan, womb are at risk. She will undergo lots of pressure that’s why we advise for abstinence from early sex.
“When a man starts grooming a girl child or being unnecessarily nice and generous to a girl it’s a red flag to note the girl would be sexually abused. Young girls and boys should be told that this is not the right time to have sex but time to groom their selves and prepare for their future.”
