The Edo State Government has unveiled a policy framework on Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) to strengthen prevention, reporting, protection, response and accountability against digital abuse.

The policy was unveiled on Monday during the 17th Quarterly Meeting of the Edo Gender-Based Violence Management Committee in Benin.

The meeting was organised by the Edo Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development in collaboration with the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption (RULAC) programme.

It brought together government officials, security agencies, the judiciary, health workers, development partners, civil society organisations and youth representatives to review GBV interventions and emerging digital violence.

Chairperson of the committee and Coordinator, Office of the Wife of the Governor, Edesili Okpebholo-Anani, reaffirmed the government’s commitment to creating a safer society free from violence, abuse, exploitation and discrimination.

Ms Okpebholo-Anani said the state’s GBV clubs in secondary schools were designed to equip young people with knowledge of their rights, healthy relationships, violence prevention, reporting mechanisms and support services.

She said educating young people early would help raise a generation that rejected violence and became advocates of positive social change.

Ms Okpebholo-Anani said technology transformed communication and interaction but also created new avenues through which women, girls and vulnerable persons could experience harassment, threats, stalking, cyberbullying and other forms of abuse.

She said the TFGBV policy provided a framework for strengthening prevention, protection, reporting, referrals, survivor-centred services, response and accountability.

She announced the constitution of an implementation sub-committee to coordinate implementation of the policy, monitor progress, identify gaps and report regularly to the GBV Management Committee.

She urged members to strengthen referral pathways, survivor-centred services, data systems, prevention programmes, community engagement and accountability mechanisms.

The chairperson appreciated RoLAC for its technical and strategic support, saying the partnership had contributed to strengthening policies, institutions and coordination mechanisms for addressing GBV.

The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Eugenia Abdallah, said technology had transformed communication, learning, work and interaction but also created new avenues for gender-based violence.

Ms Abdallah identified emerging forms as cyberstalking, online sexual harassment, cyberbullying, threats, impersonation, identity abuse, non-consensual sharing of intimate images, sextortion and technology-enabled exploitation.

She described the policy as a timely response to digital violence, saying it would promote digital literacy, public awareness, school-based learning and community engagement.

The commissioner said the framework would establish survivor-friendly reporting, referral, evidence preservation and support systems while improving digital investigation, prosecution and victim-protection procedures.

She added that the policy clarified the roles of justice, social development, health, law enforcement and other institutions while encouraging cooperation with digital platforms and service providers.

Ms Abdallah said the inauguration was only the beginning of implementation and urged stakeholders to ensure technology remained a tool for empowerment, inclusion and development rather than violence and exploitation.

The new Edo State Commissioner of Police, Patrick Daor, pledged the command’s support for the state’s GBV response and efforts to tackle technology-facilitated crimes.

Mr Daor said the police command received numerous complaints involving cyberbullying, blackmail and intimidation, emphasising the need for stronger collaboration among stakeholders.

“The use of technology should be in a way that benefits everyone. But now you have people out there using it for bullying, blackmail and intimidation. As commissioner of police, I get a lot of these complaints,” he said.

The state Commissioner for Health, Cyril Oshiomhole, emphasised that survivors of GBV should not be blamed for violence perpetrated against them.

Mr Oshiomhole urged health facilities across the state to attend to survivors promptly and ensure they received appropriate medical care, psychosocial support and other necessary services.

Representing the Commissioner for Justice, Roland Otaru, and the Director of Public Prosecution, Charity Ebosele, described GBV as a human rights violation that should not be tolerated.

Ms Ebosele said the policy was an important step towards strengthening institutional responses to technology-enabled crimes and ensuring effective prosecution of offenders.

She said the judiciary remained committed to ensuring justice for survivors and appropriate sanctions for offenders while emphasising the need to handle cases sensitively.

A UNICEF youth representative, Isabel Anani, called for greater attention to cyberbullying among young people, particularly in schools and tertiary institutions.

Ms Anani said peer bullying could be difficult to detect because perpetrators and victims often interacted within the same social circles, making it harder for adults to identify the abuse.

She called for youth-friendly reporting mechanisms and safer institutional environments where young people could report digital abuse without fear.

She also emphasised the importance of ensuring students were aware of available online reporting channels and the confidentiality attached to such reports.

Ms Anani said young people could be discouraged from reporting when survivors who had previously spoken out were exposed or their confidentiality breached, urging institutions to ensure adequate protection.

The meeting called for greater involvement of adolescents and young people in implementing the TFGBV policy, particularly because they constituted a significant population of digital-platform users.

Stakeholders received copies of the Edo State Policy Framework on Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence, which focuses on prevention, protection, response, accountability and safer digital ecosystems.

The document provides a framework for prevention, protection, response, referral, capacity building, data management, coordination and monitoring, with emphasis on survivors’ privacy, safety and rights.

The implementation sub-committee comprises representatives of relevant ministries, agencies, security organisations, the Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC), civil society organisations and the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), among others.

Earlier, the committee considered matters arising from its previous meeting, including an assessment of the Uromi Sexual Assault Referral Centre by Faith Edobor, Manager of the Vivian Sexual Assault Referral Centre.

Ms Edobor, who conducted the assessment with the ministry’s gender desk officer, reported that the Uromi centre was functional but required increased public awareness, additional training and stronger staffing.

She also recommended dedicated running costs, law-enforcement deployment and links with nearby shelters for survivors requiring temporary accommodation during investigations.

Ms Edobor said the centre received cases involving child abuse and rape, noting that its relatively low number of reported cases could be linked to inadequate public awareness.

She recommended regular refresher training for personnel and dedicated funding to support treatment of indigent survivors.

The committee also reviewed the need to strengthen survivor confidentiality, referral systems, inter-agency coordination and access to justice.

The state Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development was recognised with an Award of Excellence as the Best Performing State in SGBV Prevention and Protection at the 26th National Council on Women Affairs, Child Advancement and Social Development in Jalingo, Taraba State.

The recognition was described as a reflection of the ministry’s efforts to strengthen prevention and protection mechanisms for women and girls.

The Society to Heighten Awareness of Women and Children Abuse (SOTHWACA) recorded 555 GBV cases in Edo North and Edo South between April and July 2026.

The report showed that domestic violence accounted for the highest number with 138 cases, followed by physical assault with 78, emotional and psychological abuse with 62 and economic abuse with 59.

Child abuse accounted for 55 cases, while other reported cases included sexual violence, threats to life, visitation disputes, indecent exposure, sextortion, human trafficking, widowhood deprivation and DNA-related disputes.

The cases rose from 134 in April to 152 in May and peaked at 153 in June before dropping to 116 in July.

(NAN)