At least 50 Sharia judges from Kaduna and Kano states have been trained in Gender-Based Violence (GBV) as part of efforts to prevent its escalation in Northern Nigeria.

Speaking at the one-day seminar for the Sharia judges held at Bafara Hotel, Kaduna, on Saturday, the project coordinator, Ahmad Abdullahi Ahmad, said the seminar, which was sponsored by the Department of Research and Projects Centre (dRPC), aimed to enhance the judges’ understanding of the Islamic perspective on GBV.

“What you are seeing today is the outcome of a peer-to-peer study tour undertaken by Muslim opinion leaders and Imams to Egypt. While in Egypt, they engaged with esteemed Islamic institutions like Al-Azhar and the Grand Mufti. The insights and lessons learned from that experience gave birth to this training.”

“We are not here to teach you (the judges) what to do, but we are here to enhance your understanding of how you can improve your knowledge of the legal frameworks regarding GBV.”

He said the training was also intended to improve their understanding of how Islamic principles can be utilized alongside legal mechanisms to prevent harm to women and girls.
According to him, “Fifty Sharia court judges drawn from Kano and Kaduna participated in the seminar.”

Also speaking, one of the resource persons, Professor Usman Shuaib of the Islamic Law Department of Bayero University, Kano, noted that gender violence is often very difficult to prove in court because, in most cases, the violence occurs in isolated places.

He further noted, “Whenever a case is brought to court, judges often find it difficult to rule on the matter because of the absence of witnesses.”

“Most often, whenever we hear of GBV, we think it is either the woman or the girl who is abused. This is not usually the case, as men too can be abused.”

According to him, “From a legal perspective, GBV can apply to both males and females.”

He therefore advised the Sharia judges to employ other means, such as instilling the fear of God in the suspects, and applying wisdom in handling such cases whenever they are brought before them.