Kano State Govt approves establishment of SARCs in four Emirate Council
AREWA AGENDA – Kano State Government has approved the establishment of four Sexual Assault Referral Centers (SARCs), one in each Emirate Council in the State, in addition to the existing one called Waraka SARC center at Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital.
The Kano State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barr. M.A Lawan made this known to newsmen during a courtesy visit by a coalition of gender based violence advocates who are “Galvanising Mass Actions Against Gender Based Violence” in the State. The advocacy effort is implemented by Connected Development (CODE) with support from the Canadian High Commission in Nigeria.
The advocates were led by the Executive Director of Bridge Connect Africa Initiative, Mr. Sani Muhammad, who stressed that the aim of the visit was to praise the Kano State Government for transmitting the Child Protection Bill to the Kano State House of Assembly, and to work closely and support government agencies in the state to pass the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPP) and end all forms of gender-based violence in the state.
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Barr. M.A Lawan reiterated that ,the Governor of Kano State, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje assured that his administration is ready to end all forms of gender based violence in the state. This commitment is seen by the Governor’s approval and transmission of the domesticated Child Rights Act (Kano State Child Protection Bill) to the State House of Assembly, which we are all aware, the bill has been there for almost 10 years without anything been done.
The Commissioner for Justice, Barr M.A Lawan further stated that his office has been working to harmonize the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act into the Penal Code which has not been reviewed for over 30 years. This is because the Penal Code covers 75% of issues on the VAPP and they want to avoid having too many legislations on an issue. He assured the group of the transmission of a new draft of the VAPP to the Kano State Executive Council in a few months. This law, he said, will increase the sentence of perpetrators of rape to minimum of 14 years to life in prisonment.
On his part, the Director of Civil Rights and the Head of the Sexual Assault Referral Center (SARC) at Waraka, Barr Sunusi Ali, showed his appreciation to CODE and the advocacy team and was glad that this much needed advocacy is currently happening in Kano state. He urged CODE, BCAI and other NGOs to visit the SARC to see what the government is doing.
Barr Sunusi said, Waraka SARC is in interested in any organization that is willing to support the center with resources to improve it activities.
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