 Her Royal Highness, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, is now the patron of Mirabel Centre, Niger's full-sexual South Raffaero Centre. The notification ceremony was held at the Lake State University teaching hospital, Laszl's, plus TV Africa's correspondent, Annette Felix Hasmore. 74-year-old Duchess of Cornwall and woman rights campaigner, Camilla, has accepted to be the patron of Mirabel Centre in Nigeria. The Centre provides free medical and psychosocial services to survivors of sexual assault. The head of the Centre's advisory board, Professor Ayo Ashenuwa, describes the international partnership as momentous for the fight against sexual and gender-based violence. That is definitely for me, because it tells us that the work that Mirabel Centre does has gone beyond Nigeria. It offers a model, not only in Nigeria, since the establishment of Mirabel Centre. We now have, I think, about another 20 sexual assault referral centres in Nigeria. Having international partnership, add on to it, is very, very exciting. The British Deputy High Commissioner, Ben Leil-Lyn Jones, is representing the Duchess here. He calls for the domestication of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act, as well as more collaboration in prosecuting sexual and gender-based violence cases. What the Duchess hopes is that her patronage will shine a light on these issues in Nigeria, the excellent work that's been done by the Mirabel Centre and her partners, and, importantly, try and address these issues at source to try and prevent them, particularly by promoting the application of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act, the Child Rights Act, and all the work that's done to educate, to socialise, and to show why prevention is so important. The founder of Mirabel Centre, Itorou Ezianaba, has an appeal to make to religious, community and corporate leaders. Wherever your sphere of influence is, ensure that there's a policy that condemns rape. Let your employees know that you will not accept sexual harassment, that you will not accept domestic violence, that you will not accept rape in your organisation. Also, call on property owners, landlords and landlords, in your tenancy agreements, include the fact that you will not accept rape or sexual violence in your property. And to entertain us, to the comedians, rape is not a joke. We have to stop it. Nearly three in ten Nigerian women, aged 15 to 49, have experienced sexual violence. And studies show the incidence of gender-based violence is growing astronomically, with the activities of the insurgents and bandits in northern Nigeria. Girls are often subjected to physical, mental or sexual assault, and oftentimes married at an early age against their will. Annette Felix, Plus TV Africa.