Acting Chairperson, Plateau State Gender and Equal Opportunities Commission, Olivia Dazyem, has said the agency mediated and settled 23 cases of rights violations in Plateau within six months.

Mrs Dazyem, who disclosed this during an interview in Jos on Sunday, noted that people were now becoming more aware of their rights, and turning in petitions over their violations.

She however, said most of the complaints had to do with human rights violations by family members, therefore the commission decided to handle them in its mediation centre.

According to her, the commission has been mandated by Governor Caleb Mutfwang, to also to set up the mediation centres in all the local government areas in the state, to serve as alternative dispute resolution centres.

“We had to train some counsellors because it is not everyone that can act as a mediator. So we were able to train some of our staff in that capacity,” she said.

Mrs Dazyem explained that the trained and experienced counsellors would be able to examine the cases and determine which were suitable for mediation and counselling, and those that should be referred to the appropriate authorities such as the police and the ministry of justice, for criminal prosecution.

“Some of the criminal violations of human rights that we have observed have to do with spousal abuse, sexual and gender-based violence, child abuse and trafficking. And we also have domestic violence, the kinds of abuses that take place between spouses in the homes, as well as sexual molestations of young children,’’ she said.

Mrs Dazyem therefore called on citizens to come with their complaints for amicable resolutions, and to also make perpetrators face the full wrath of the law.

(NAN)