CADRELL ADVOCACY CENTRE PROGRAMMES

Rape has become a serious problem in our society as it has in the last ten years, assumed a very dangerous proportion. Something must urgently be done to fight this societal malaise. Out of every ten girls between the ages of 0 - 15 in our society, eight have been either raped or sexually abused before the age of eighteen.

Often the victims do not have access to justice because society represses their voices and sometimes these victims are threatened to remain silent while community leaders and elders assume jurisdiction illegally to hear rape cases. We have begun to engage society on these issues and raise awareness that rape is not a family affair but a criminal offense. We have started conversations with community leaders, explaining that it is a crime to aid a rapist escape justice. Our campaign is geared toward the length and breadth of Nigeria with the message that according to our criminal laws, the penalty for rape is life imprisonment and the penalty for attempted rape is 14-years imprisonment.

Domestic violence is an offense under the Violence Against Persons Prevention Act of 2015. This is a federal legislation enacted to address the root causes of violence in the Nigerian society and to prescribe penalties for noncompliance. It is an offense to assault anyone physically or psychologically, be it a spouse, child, or a relation. Both in domestic and industrial relations, all forms of violence are prohibited under our law.

Cadrell Advocacy Centre therefore believes that the Nigerian society must be informed adequately about this law. Our organization shall from time to time apply to the Attorney Generals of the various states in Nigeria for a fiat to prosecute offenders when necessary. We shall equally institute legal action against any person(s) or institution(s) that obstructs our operation in Nigeria.

Children are the future of every society. It is therefore important that every child obtains the best in life. Cadrell Advocacy Centre aims to uphold the rights of the Nigerian child as enshrined in the Child Right Act, the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of a Child, and the African Charter on Human and People’s Right.

We aim to combat child labour of any kind, including hawking on the streets, domestic or sexual labour, tribal skin-marking or tattooing of children, trafficking of persons, using of children to smuggle narcotic and psychotropic substances, child sexual molestation, child abduction, removal and transfer of a child to unknown custody, child marriage, employment of a child for the facilitation of criminal acts, begging of alms, and so on. As an organization, we will advocate for the adoption of the Child Right Act in all the states of the federation.

We believe that the best legacy a child can be given is education. When a child is allowed to develop his inner faculties, he finds new perspective from where his life can begin to turn around for excellence. Bearing this in mind, we set up the Cadrell Child Education Trust Fund (CCETF) to help children who are deprived of basic education to access it at no cost. This way, we can sustain our mission of rescuing them from violence. We aim to put underprivileged children in decent schools and cater for their needs till they can find their footings in the society.

There are over 14 million children out of school in Nigeria. Our mission is to reduce this number by half within the next (3) three years. We cannot do this alone, and as such, we have a platform in place by which members of the public can partner with us to make this a reality. It costs just N35,000 to sponsor a child through primary school. This amount will cover the cost of uniforms, bags, books, food, excursions, sports, etc. With your support, we can send as many children to school as possible so that they do not become easy tools in the hands of insurgents. We once again declare our commitment to reduce illiteracy through this trust fund, and we pledge to give account of our stewardship at regular intervals.