Violence Against Women Is Rooted In Their Economic Marginalisation -

Sherifat Aregbesola Wife of the Osun State Governor, Sherifat Aregbesola, said the violence against women and untimely death among them is caused fist and foremost by economic marginalisatiion and poverty. 

Aregbesola stated this on Sunday in Osogbo, the state capital, while speaking at the graduation ceremony of 1,500 women who took part a skill acquisition programme. She disclosed that Osun State is waging war against economic marginalisation among women and women trafficking by fighting poverty through empowerment programmes.
“In Nigeria, there is what can aptly be describes as feminisation of poverty; the poverty here has a woman face with more than 70 per cent women living below poverty line. This condition has predisposed women to economic hardship, social marginalisation, untimely death, violence and diseases, among others," governor's wife said. She also stressed that poverty is a cause of such abusing practices as child labour, child marriage and sex trafficking of girls. Osun stated, she said, is addressing these challenged "by equipping them [women] with necessary skills to make them economically relevant.” Aregbesola added that Nigeria might not reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) except the nation taps into the resources available in the womenfolk. The Osun State Commissioner for Women and Children Affairs, Mofolake Adegboyega, praised women in the state for being hard-working, saying that they turned out in large number for the skill acquisition programme.-Punch Nigeria