Cross River State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs Edoema Irom says the state recorded 586 occurrences of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) between January and October.
She made this statement in Calabar on Saturday at a news conference to kick off 16 days of protest against GBV.
The commissioner disclosed that the statistics only included incidents reported to the government.
Irom stated that the ministry was putting institutions in place in the state’s 18 local government areas in partnership with Non-Governmental Organisations to report GBV instances in real-time in order to combat the epidemic.
“We have a Technical Working Group (TWG) with members drawn from the ministry and from the NGOs to find a way around the issue.
“The TWG meets quarterly to review efforts put in place to address the issue,’’ she said.
She explained that the 16-day activism was intended to raise awareness about the threat, while also remembering those who fought and paid the ultimate price to stop violence against women and girls around the world.
