Anna Jogo (right), GBV Officer at Women for Justice and Equality Organization (WJEO) and Zabib Musa, the Executive Director of the organization speaks on Eye Radio. (Photo: Lou Nelson).

A Gender-Based Violence activist calls on members of the public to report any form of GBV, especially cases of sexual violence as soon as they happen for survivors to get help.

Anna Jogo, GBV Officer at Women for Justice and Equality Organization (WJEO) also urged parents and guardians to stop silencing children when they want to speak out about an abuse.

She said a GBV survivor needs urgent help through counselling, medical support, legal and security support.

Ms Jogo said it is dangerous and harmful to keep silent and tolerate any form of GBV at home or in the community.

“It is always good to report GBV cases immediately especially a rape case. “It is not good to keep silent about GBV. You can be helped after reporting GBV through counselling, medical support, legal support or even security support,” she told Eye Radio’s Under the Tree Show.

Anna Jogo further said some parents dismiss their children when they want to open up about GBV incidents that they might have experienced, for fear of shame and to protect the family’s prestige.

“To parents, if your child reports to you any issue to do with GBV, do not silence her/him because of shame or family prestige whether the perpetrator is a relative or a stranger.”

“Report, so the child can get his/her right. Covering up should be stopped when it comes to GBV.  GBV has no tolerance so it is always good to report so that the perpetrator can be punished according to the law.”

Ms. Jogo said the consequences of an unreported GBV case can be realized only after some time when it is too late for the survivor.

On his part, Zabib Musa, the Executive Director of WJEO said referral pathway principles requires talking to someone about GBV as part of the healing process.

“As a GBV survivor, the first thing is that, once you get someone listening to you, it is part of healing. The survivor will feel that someone cares. One of the most important things is that the referral pathways links survivors to available services to access vital services.”

“It is one big document in every organization that shows where every service is located. So, it is important that it plays a big role in linking survivors to much needed services.”

Referral pathways, also known as referral networks or referral systems, are the routes through which patients are directed from one healthcare provider to another for specialized care or services.