TearFund: 2026 Children’s Day: Students In Benue Advocate Use Of ‘Anonymous Boxes’ To Report SGBV

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Students in Benue State have advocated for the use of ‘Anonymous boxes’ in schools to use as a means of reporting issues of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV).

The students argued that apart from ensuring that the identity of those reporting such cases is protected, it would also serve to reduce and eventually eradicate issues of SGBV in schools.

The children spoke on the occasion of the commemoration of Children’s Day, organised by TearFund, in Makurdi, in collaboration with the Benue State Government, at a town hall meeting with students at the secondary level across the state.

The programme, which is part of the “We Matter Too” project of TearFund, targets adolescent girls, young women, and boys, aimed at ensuring that children are always included in development programmes.

Timothy Deallam, a student of Amazing Grace College, Gboko, advocated the use of anonymous boxes in a paper presentation titled: “Policies and practices in our schools and communities in line with sexual and gender based violence”

While pointing out that many cases of SGBV go unreported, due to fear of stigmatisation, he advocated the use of the anonymous boxes where complaints would be received privately and treated discreetly to avoid stigma.p

According to Deallam, “What we are trying to say is that gender based violence has to be taken away by us (the society), and if TearFund help schools to implement the use of ‘Anonymous boxes’ where students can report abuses without fear of retaliation, because some students are afraid to speak up, it would go a long way.

“And we are also educating them (students) to know that we do not have to be silent, when it comes to issues of Sexual and gender based violence, so that it will be eradicated” from the school and communities, he observed.

Meanwhile, the Country Director, TearFund, who was represented by the Project Officer, Olivia Shangbum, said the issues raised should serve as a wake-up call to parents to take measures to prevent abuse, neglect, violence, and exploitation of children.

Furthermore, she explained that TearFund has trained peer educators who engage students in schools and encourage them to speak out on issues affecting them, noting that the organisation has also come up with adolescent-friendly services and training of health workers to ensure that services provided are suitable for young people.

Shangbum said, “It’s an awakening call to parents to take measures to ensure that abuse, neglect, violence, and exploitation is prevented entirely in the communities.

“In the midst of our activities, let’s ensure that every decision we take is in the best interest of a child. Today, we are advocating for the rights of a child, which include rights to participation, rights to development, rights to protection, and rights to survival. All of these, we want to ensure are respected.

“Through our baseline evaluation, there were a lot of gaps that were identified, and TearFund has tried to bridge those gaps. We started some policy acts, and one of them is creating adolescent-friendly services.

“However, there’s still that stigma when it comes to adolescents accessing family, sexual and reproductive health services in these clinics.”

She explained further that the “We Matter Too” project focuses on adolescent girls and young women. So, children are the key stakeholders in our implementation and in our activities. The project has four objectives, and in our activities, we’ve ensured that children are carried along.

“We have trained peer educators who are engaging these children in schools, in life skill clubs in schools in Makurdi and Gboko. All these schools have established life skill clubs where the peer educators are well-trained, and their capacity has been built to carry out life skill sessions with these children in schools. We have recorded successes where children have testified that their lives have been”, Shangbum noted.

Speaking on the events of the day, Adeyi Onah Daniel, the chairman of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities, Benue state chapter, said, “My message to the children is that they are the voices of the now and not of the future. We have been hearing that children are the future leaders, but we advise them to take the opportunities right now.

“The children should begin to think about the future now. Their voices matter. They should speak to facts; to the economic, social and other hardships that we are facing, the children should begin to speak out about how they feel and what they think can be done to solve these myriad of problems faced by Nigerians right now”, he emphasised.

Also, delivering a keynote address on the topic, ‘Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Prevention and Response’, the Chairperson, International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Benue state chapter, Barr Blessing Ityohuun, insisted that stronger policies and institutions are a sure way to protect children from exploitation.

Meanwhile, the representative of the State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Boniface Jam, noted that among some of the government policies for protecting the rights of children in the state was facilitating the introduction of Family Courts.

The event, which was held in Makurdi, focused on children’s well-being, protection, and advocacy for their rights. The event also attracted participants from civil society organisations, ministries, departments and agencies, health workers, faith leaders, and persons with disabilities.