Gombe Commissions Centre To Support Victims Of Sexual Assault

By Najib Sani, Gombe

Gombe State government has launched the Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) at the Gombe State Specialist Hospital to provide comprehensive support to survivors of sexual violence in the state.

The centre, established with support from UNICEF, was commissioned on Friday by the deputy governor of the state flanked by the chief of UNICEF’s Bauchi field office.

Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Sambo Dawa, during the commissioning ceremony explained that the centre aims to offer medical, psychological and legal aid to victims.

He revealed that there were 170 reported cases of sexual violence in the state last year, mostly from rural areas adding that the incidents were on the rise.

The Chief Medical Director explained that the centre was equipped with a reception, treatment room, counselling unit, police desk and legal desk, ensuring a one-stop solution for victims.

Gombe’s Commissioner for Health, Dr Habu Dahiru, representing the Deputy Governor, Manasseh Jatau, assured the government would also rehabilitate survivors after treatment.

According to him, the centre was strategically located in a secluded area in the hospital to ensure victims’ privacy, with counsellors on hand to advise them.

While the Chairman Gombe State House of Assembly Committee on Health, Musa Manaja, blamed the judiciary for not meting out severe punishment to perpetrators, urging them to apply the enacted laws to deter offenders.

The Emir of Gombe, Abubakar Shehu Abubakar, represented by the ‘Wakilin Birnin Gombe’, Dalhatu Babayo, commended the centre’s establishment, saying traditional leaders were concerned about the menace and urged victims to speak out to get justice.

In her remarks, UNICEF’s Chief of Bauchi Field Office in charge of Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa, Taraba and Plateau States, Nuzhat Rafique, urged stakeholders to enlighten communities on reporting sexual violence and supporting victims, stressing the need to end the abuse.

While decrying that children are also victims of sexual assault, she called on lawyers and police to support the survivors, warning that without action, the incidents would recur.