Shari’a Court Judges take steps to address GBV in Kano, Kaduna

Over 50 Shari’a court judges from Kano and Kaduna states met in Kaduna to discuss a new direction aimed at easing the administration of justice as part of efforts to fight the growing cases of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in the two states.

The acting grand Khadi of Kano State, Kadi Mukhtar Muhammad Kunti, in his address to the joint session, said the event was organised to educate Shari’a judges on new measures and rules to reduce the burden of witnesses on survivors.

He disclosed that the new practice direction gazetted on February 25, 2025 was aimed at enriching the existing laws in the states’ civil procedure rules that ease the adjudication of cases of GBV, adding that the new law provides an alternative to abuses that occur in homes or where there are no witnesses and applies to all Upper and Shari’a Courts in the state and all civil cases.

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He also urged the Kano State government to join the 35 other states in the federation in domesticating and implementing the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law to reduce the growing cases of gender-based violence in the state.

The one-day Joint Session was organised by the development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC) in collaboration with the Centre for Islamic Civilisation and Interfaith Dialogue, Bayero University, Kano (CICID) is supported by the Ford Foundation.

Kano State commissioner for women affairs, children and disabled, Hajiya Amina Abdullahi Sani, represented by the director, planning, Yakubu Muhammad, challenged Shari’a Court judges in the two states to holistically confront the menace of GBV that is increasingly becoming a grave violation of the human rights of survivors in the states.