A Coalition of Small and Medium Organizations dedicated to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) emerged through the Amplify Change grant facilitated by Lawyers Alert from 2018 - 2020. This initiative recently culminated in a landmark event: the 1st SRHR National Conference in Nigeria, themed “SRHR Culture and Social Norms within Communities.”

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Background
By July 2021, a total of 68, 556 persons in Nigeria are in correctional service centers with 70% of these persons awaiting trial. A large percentage of those awaiting trial is on account of Petty Offences. These persons are often the poor and vulnerable in the society owing to the very nature of Petty Offences and economic reasons

Lawyers Alert and its Partner Ikra Foundation, Ikra Foundation for Women & Youth Development visited the office of the Speaker of the State House of Assembly in Bauchi State to present a draft Bill to Decriminalize Petty Offences in the State.
The Bill seeks to repeal discriminatory colonial laws that criminalises and punish poverty.
Lawyers Alert is implementing a project that seeks to deepen efforts at decriminalizating Petty offences in Nigeria, facilitate synergy in advocacy efforts to decriminalise Petty offences and to provide legal representation to persons accused of Petty Offenses.  

Lawyers Alert and SJN, SGBV Justice Network, Cluster members, have launched the Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) campaign, under the hashtag “#IMPLEMENTSGBVLAWS.”

Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) is high and prevalent in Nigeria, which
is further exacerbated by the judiciary. Justice is slow and tortuous for survivors and
victims of SGBV. The court, especially the criminal justice system within the states is
slow and expensive. Women and the poor, who cannot afford high legal fees are
most affected.

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Lawyers Alert and SJN, SGBV Justice Network, Cluster members, have launched the Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) campaign, under the hashtag “#IMPLEMENTSGBVLAWS.”

Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) is high and prevalent in Nigeria, which
is further exacerbated by the judiciary. Justice is slow and tortuous for survivors and
victims of SGBV. The court, especially the criminal justice system within the states is
slow and expensive. Women and the poor, who cannot afford high legal fees are
most affected.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       READ MORE

On the 4th of November 2021, representatives of the Network of Disabled Women (NDW) paid Lawyers Alert a courtesy visit towards the implementation of the Nigeria Disability Act.
The objective of the meeting: towards strengthening and building opportunities for Women with Disabilities, including accessibility to public and private spaces.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Background

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Lawyers Alert is contributing to positively changing the dynamics of SRHR in Nigeria by the creation of effective SRHR movements, operational networks and collaborations at the grassroots, judicial activism, legal literacy (rights awareness creation) and provision of scientific data on violations. These steps are contributing in no small measure to the changing narrative and positive push for the enjoyment of Reproductive Health Rights in Nigeria.

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INTRODUCTION:
In 2020, Lawyers Alert embarked on a project to empower members of the Benue State Association of the Deaf (BSAD) with Skill Acquisition through meaningful partnerships. We partnered with the House of Hilkiah Foundation (HOHF) and plans have been ongoing since then to achieve this goal with a pilot of 20 persons with equal representation of men and women. 

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Lawyers Alert monitors and documents human rights violations, as well as provides free legal assistance to women and girls in Nigeria. We are aware of the violation of the rights of women during the lockdown associated with COVID-19 as evidenced in the media, both social and traditional. Several human rights agencies, including the National Human Rights Commission, has documented several of these.

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In May 2020, a Capacity Building Plan was developed to bridge the identified gaps post the assessment of Small and Medium-Sized Organizations. Implementation of the developed Capacity Building Plan began in June - July 2020 for the assessed Small and Medium-Sized Organizations in Benue, Borno, Imo, Kano, Niger, Plateau and the Federal Capital Territory.

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Lawyers Alert in March 2020, carried out an assessment of small and medium-sized Sexual and Reproductive Health and Right Organizations across the 6 geo-political zones in Nigeria.

The assessment was centred on the following; Governance; Experience, knowledge and skills; Networking and referral systems; Resource Mobilization;

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On the 6th of February 2020, a representative of the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and Open Society Foundation (OSF) and Lawyers Alert rubbed minds on the shrinking civic space and notable Bills like NGO Bill, Social Media Bill, False Information Bill, etc. before the Nigeria parliament. At this meeting were Jeff and Anita from OSF, while LA was represented by Olayemi, Blessing, Roseline, and Bamidele.

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On the 6th of February 2020, representatives of the Voice of Disability Initiative (VDI) paid Lawyers Alert a courtesy visit towards mapping organizations working on I. Gender Equality and Women Empowerment (GEWE), ii. Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), iii. Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), iv. Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) and v. Harmful Practices (HP) in the FCT. The mapping is part of their EU-UN Joint Spotlight Initiative on Ending all forms of Violence Against Women and Girls.

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Overview/Meeting Objectives:
The meeting had the following objectives;
1) To understand the scope of petty offenses and SRHR violations
2) To enhance participants skills in reporting and documenting petty offenses and SRHR
violations.
3) Modus for documentation.

Right to Life Initiative, a Key and Affected Population (KAP) focused organization paid an advocacy visit to Lawyers Alert on the 20th of January, 2020 to discuss issues of mutual interest and strengthening of ties between the two organizations.

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16 days of activism is an annual international campaign that kicks off on 25 November every year, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and runs until 10 December, Human Rights Day. It was started by activists at the inaugural Women’s Global Leadership Institute in 1991 and continues to be coordinated each year by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership. It is used as an organizing strategy by individuals and organizations around the world to call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls. To this end, Lawyers Alert as a Rights-Based Organization with a focus on Women and Gender issues joined the rest of the World to commemorate those days. 

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Lawyers Alert will on Wednesday and Thursday, 18th and 19th September 2019 meet with Civil Society groups in Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State, especially Civil Society groups working on HIV with the objectives of carrying out Advocacy against the proposed criminalization of HIV infection in the State. Recall, that the last State Parliament had proposed the passage of Law that will criminalize HIV infection in Akwa-Ibom State and the present Parliament appears to be so minded.

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Follow the link to watch the shot video on Gender-based Violence

by Damilola Ogunsi

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                                                      Click Here to follow the link

Lawyers Alert Staff this month paid a courtesy visit to the Director-General NAPTIP, Julie Okah-Donli at the Headquarters of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) to discuss issues of trafficking and gender-based violence. Very illuminating response from the DG. Below is the video.

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                                                     Click Here to watch the Video

The Management of Lawyers Alert visited the Attorney General & Commissioner of Justice, Benue State, where he spoke against violence on women and girls. Below is the video.

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                                                                        Click Here to watch the Video

Introduction

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Lawyers Alert on the 7th of June 2018 organised a one-day sensitization session for selected Civil Society Groups in North Central Nigeria with the aim of fostering law, human rights and effective Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) Movement in Nigeria. The North Central sensitization session was held in Makurdi, Benue State and was targeted at Small and Medium Civil Society Organisations and Lawyers in the North Central of the Federation. A total of 10 Organisations were mobilized for the meeting with a total of 22 participants in attendance.

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Background

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Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, SRHR, in Nigeria is an area which, owing to culture and religion, is neither making as much progress nor being given as much space for expression in comparative terms with more “acceptable” rights.

Violence against Women and Girls, Abortion, Same-Sex Relationships, Female Sex Work, Rights of Persons Living with HIV, Female Genital Mutilation etc. are all issues that citizens regularly confront yet fail to attract commensurate attention in the positive from authorities. Particularly affected are Persons Living With, Affected by or Most at Risk of HIV.

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The problem of gender-based violence (GBV) is an age-long problem in our communities that has led to the loss of lives, emotional disorder, psychological torture, and other forms of human rights abuses. These violations happen more in rural areas than urban areas due to poor access to information, inadequate exposure, and anti-human rights cultural practices, leading to an anti-social environment for women and children.

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On the 29th day of August 2018, the Hope Sisters Against HIV/AIDS, Stigma and
Discrimination Initiative, a Women-Led Grassroot Civic Group in Makurdi, Benue State paid a Courtesy Visit to Lawyers Alert Head Office in order to identify with the LA and strengthen the existing working relationship between both Organizations.

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