Girl-child advocacy movie ‘Radio Girl’ premieres in FCT
A new advocacy movie titled “Radio Girl” has been released in commemoration of the 2023 International Day of the Girl-Child with the aim of raising awareness against the prevalent issue of girls’ molestation.
Stakeholders in the public and private sectors, filmmakers and cinema goers attended the premiere of the movie at the Silverbird Galleria on Tuesday night in Abuja.
Mr Dede Oji, Producer and Director of “Radio Girl” said the movie was conceived as an impactful tool to educate and empower communities on the importance of protecting and advocating for the rights of young girls.
He urged girls to report any molestation attempt, regardless of the perpetrator’s age, to help stop the problem.
According to him some victims fear to speak up because of the fear of stigmatisation.
He mentioned Dooshima, a character in the movie who couldn’t speak out initially due to the stigma around rape.
“This scenario in the movie about Doshima is something that happens to virtually every girl that has gone through rape.
“I am admonishing every rape victim to please speak out just like Doshima in the movie did because that is the only sure way of curbing the menace.
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“I also want to advise parents not to put fear in their girl- child.
“This is because when a child is free to speak at the end of the day even when faced with a situation like what we saw in the movie she will be able to handle it better,” he said.
One of the movie reviewers, Ms Esther Suleiman, a pharmacist at the University College Hospital Ibadan, said that rape victims and families failed to report rape cases due to stigma associated with it.
Suleiman advised victims to visit the hospital and obtain a medical evidence and report to the police even if they could not follow up the case immediately due to lack of money.
Suleiman noted that it is imperative that victims visit the hospital, obtain medical evidence, and report to the police promptly, even if they are unable to follow up immediately due to lack of funds.
She said that those steps would help in future purposes in case the victim needed to re-visit the case adding that it would be easier to open the record and also get justice.
