National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons NAPTIP, has launched the sex offenders register to curb sexual violence in the country.
The register is a means of documenting names of sexual violence culprits after they have been prosecuted and found guilty of the offence.
Hajiya Sadiya Umar-Farouq, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, said at the launch in Abuja that rape of women had been a great challenge in recent times.
She said the crime was common in the Northern part of the country, adding that it had left several women and teenagers vulnerable.
The minister commended NAPTIP and other partners for putting up the register said it would go a long way in exposing perpetrators of the crime.
She noted that several cases of violence, including gender-based ones, are exhibited by people and are not being reported nor investigated.
In her keynote address, Leymah Roberta Gbowee, a 2011 Nobel Peace Laureate from Liberia, said the launch of the register would mark the end of impunity against women in Nigeria.
Roberta called for the translation of the register into Nigerian local languages to ensure that the purpose for which it was initiated was achieved.
Dr. Bob Arnot, Portfolio Manager of Justice for European Union, called for strong support toward adhering to the rules of the sexual offences register.