Women activists from Bayelsa State have urged the authorities of the Nigeria Police Force in the state to always ensure speedy prosecution of rape cases, violence against girl child as well as issues of domestic violence to serve as a deterrent to intended offenders.

Group of women activists from the state who visited the Bayelsa State Police Commissioner, Mr Echeng Eworo Echeng, Thursday at the police headquarters in Yenagoa, demanded the establishment of a gender desk in the various divisional headquarters of the Nigeria Police to look into issues of rape and domestic violence.

The Coordinator of the Gender Response Initiative Team (GRIT) in the state, Barr. Dise Ogbise, while speaking during the visit to the police command, also sought a working partnership with the police to reduce issues of rape in society.

She sought the assistance of the Commissioner of Police in arresting, investigating and prosecuting a herbalist in Otuasega community in Ogbia Local Government council whom she said had forcefully defiled a primary school pupil.

The group also demanded that all rape cases at the divisional police level be transferred immediately to the SCID gender office and that all defilement cases should be treated free at the police clinic or at a subsidised amount.