Youth Minister convenes conference on rape

The Minister of Youth Development, Bolaji Abdullahi, will on Monday convene a conference on rape cases among youths in the country.

A statement issued by his Senior Assistant on Media, Julius Ogunro quoted the minister as saying that “rape and violence against women or any group of persons has no place in our culture”.

The statement noted that the conference, themed: “Youth and the Challenges of Rape”, is aimed at effectively engaging young men as ambassadors and watchdogs, to stop violence against young women in the country.

The conference will bring together researchers, policy makers, practitioners in related fields, health and social workers and students from tertiary institutions to share knowledge and practises and debate issues on rape.

“The conference seeks to contribute to changing the mind set, attitude and behaviours that perpetrate violence against young girls and women in the country,” the statement read.

“It is also important among young men, who, with the huge peer-group influence, could help to spread the word and help to change the mind-sets of rapist in the society. After the conference, it is hoped that civil society organisations will be motivated and encouraged to continue to speak against gender-based violence.”

The government and NGOs would also provide more resources that would help “to protect the defenceless young Nigerians from the mental and physical damage of rape”.