Lagos — She never thought her case could be heard. But Adejoke Martins (not exactly her name) had lived in perpetual fear of sexual abuse for over two years. Now eight years old, Adejoke had been abused sexually in the stead of her parents in Lagos severally.

She could not complain about her ugly experience to her parents; neither could she share her nightmares with her confidants until she could no longer endure.

Now her years of nightmare have ended, but the damage wrecked on her person still remains irreparable till date. Like Adejoke, several children are still facing this kind of threat. Such children can not tell their parents about their plight; neither can they report to the constituted bodies for a bailout, thus forcing them to live in fear all their lives and causing them psychological breakdown that threatens their career.

The rising cases of child sexual abuse gave vent to a rally held in Lagos month. The rally was organised by Lagos States Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation in partnership with Media Concern Initiative (MEDIACON). It was held in major centres across the world to create 'anti-child sexual abuse awareness' aimed at halting its growing trend and building a society free from this social ill.

Given its perceived threat to national peace and security, more than 20,000 participants-mothers, school aged children, government officials and civil society practitioners-walked through streets of Lagos, seeking an end to era of child abuse in the country. For children who have been facing sexual abuse, the rally was a dream comes true, perhaps because such campaign could address their plights.

This indeed prompted MEDIACON Executive Director, Mrs. Princess Olufemi-Kayode to comment that the rally was a major breakthrough in view of what several children are undergoing. The same feeling suffused all participants at the rally, singing songs of victories that will perhaps signal an entirely new regime in the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and other related protocols.

For this reason, Olufemi-Kayode simply said the rally had served its purposes. She said damage done to the victims of child sexual abuse "is unquantifiable and irreparable." It is, according to her, no longer acceptable. But she agreed that a lot had to be done to create a freer and safer environment for all children across races and sexes in Nigeria, stating that continual sexual abuse "is a threat to its victims.

"Child sexual abuse is now rampant. Children between age eight and 15 are facing this social problem. It happens to both male and female, though we receive more cases of female victims. This has exposed all victims to an unprecedented degree of threat, which requires better attention from the governments, civil society groups and parents," she said.

Olufemi-Kayode emphasised the roles of international bodies, governments and civil society groups in the battle against child sexual abuse. She thus stated: "The rally is a major breakthrough in the anti-child sexual abuse war. At our centre, we receive at least ten cases of child sexual abuse each month. This is the minimum, and it calls for concerted actions and intensive awareness about the punitive measures it attracts."

She said child sexual abuse was a critical case. She stated: "It is a critical social issue, which demands better attention because it is causing tremendous damage to innocent children. In our contemporary society, it is very rampant and critical. Children irrespective of age, race and sex are facing different kinds of sexual assault. It is no doubt a challenge most children are battling with and they cannot confide in their parents.

"It is imperative to fight this social challenge in order to secure a future for our children. We have to fight it with the last drop of our blood because sexual abuse is causing permanent damage to children. We receive cases related to this issue almost on daily basis. For this reason, we have responsibilities to stand up against this odd practice," she explained.

She held that child sexual abuse "is rapidly becoming an alarming problem in our society and that the response to this social ill is very poor." This is why she is seeking collaborative measures between social health workers, the police, the justice system and other relevant agencies to rid the country of this social challenge.

Decrying the response to cases of child sexual abuse, Olufemi-Kayode added: "Those who interact with an abused child are frequently insensitive and exacerbate the trauma already experienced. This is because there is no systematic process for ensuring that practitioners in various disciplines who work with children are skilled or equipped to provide such services."

At a recent relative forum MEDIACON organised in Lagos, participants proffered solutions to arrest the rising cases of child sexual abuse in Nigeria. It was suggested that adequate funding should be provided for the social welfare department at the state level to fight this social plague. This includes training of staff.

Other solutions proffered at the forum include the need to intensify public awareness via the media and publications on the services rendered by the social welfare department so that citizens would be aware of where to turn to when cases relating child sexual abuse arise. The need for intensified public awareness was also emphasised.

Calling for better government intervention in the issues of child sexual abuse, governments have been urged to create crisis centres staffed with trained social workers and experts where victims of child sexual abuse can seek recourse. It was noted that the centre should have an effective collaborative measure with other relevant agencies such as the police and the judicial system so that an effective total response would be attained as it affects cases of child sexual abuse in the state.

This has led the Lagos State Government to sign the Child Rights Act into law. This has been described as a welcome development considering the large population of miscreants and under-age workers. The Act which classifies a child as a person under 18 years of age and child abuse as any behaviour directed towards a child that endangers the physical or emotional health and development of such a child provides that in every action undertaken by an individual, public or private institution, court of law, administrative or legislative body, the best interest of the child must be the primary consideration and that the child's best interests shall remain paramount.

The Act which is intended to prevent child abuse as well as improve school enrolment is timely because of the increasing number of children of school age that are out of school. For instance, the 2008 United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) report estimates that approximately 10 million Nigerian children of primary and secondary school age are out of school.

According to UNICEF, 4.7 million are of primary school age while 5.3 million should be attending secondary school. The Child Rights Act and other measures adopted by the Lagos State Government to ensure that all children of school age go to school, including the distribution of free books to pupils are commendable because quality education is the key to ensuring that these children grow up to be responsible adults.