Media Center

MEDIA CENTER

COMFORT EMPOWERMENT AND ADVOCACY FOUNDATION (CEAF) Is Saying NO!

Global statistics according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), reveal that about 1 in 3 (35%) of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/ or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner violence in their lifetime.Also,One in every five girls is married Worldwide,more than 650 million women alive today were married as children. Every year, at least 12 million girls are married before they reach the age of 18. This is 28 girls every minute. One in every five girls is married, or in union, before reaching age 18.

These account for the major public health problems and violations of women’s human rights. Advocates for Youth, a 32-year-old Washington-based organization, has recorded that in Sub-Saharan Africa, violence against women is a widespread problem and in Nigeria specifically, 81% of married women report verbal and physical abuse by their husbands with 46% reporting being abused in the presence of their children.

Also, according to the Guardian UK, more than 40% (2 in 5) of domestic violence victims are male, contradicting popular belief that it is almost only women that are left battered and bruised.

Founded by Paul Akinyemi Thomson in 2009, Comfort Empowerment and Advocacy Foundation (CEAF) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) created to aid victims of domestic abuse,child marriage,and end gender based violence through public awareness and engagement campaigns and pushing to enforce laws that will protect everyone irrespective of gender.

The team comprises of trained and able counselors as well as experienced lawyers who are ready to prosecute legal causes from start to finish. CEAF has also partnered with the well known Domestic Violence and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT) of the Lagos State government and the Sexual Violence Counselling team of Mirabel Centre, which is the very first Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) in Nigeria that also boasts of over 30 sexual abuse counselors, trained to provide psycho-social support for victims of abuse.

CEAF is resolute on breaking social barriers and stigma, normalizing the conversation around domestic violence and sexual assault and as a matter of urgency, increasing resources to address the issue.