Domestic Violence!!!  A deadly virus eating deep into the very fabric of the society, even from a thousand miles away,  you can perceive the stench, the decay it lies in its wake,  victims mostly keep it a secret than let the whole world see them as being weak ,thereby forgetting that secrets are deep,  secrets are evil,  it’s just in the nature of secrets.

Most times,  Victims live a life of lies and self deceit, going on as if all is well, sunshades and makeup become the best selling products to help mask this pain and anguish…  No wonder Author Elizabeth  Bears once said that the secret to getting away with lying is by believing it authentic all your heart,  that goes to lying to one self more than they lie to another.

In the past few months,  there has been reported cases of violence against women that did actually  lead to the death of the victims.

It is adviced that once there is abuse  of a physical or emotional nature in any relationship,  the victim should report to the relevant authorities. 

Hadiza ( Slit Wrist: Suicide)

Hadiza

Hadiza has lived a life of pain and sadness… Married at a young age to a man that was forced on her by her parents,  Always bruised by her husband,  Low Self Esteem became her second name, she has gotten used to lying about her black eyes, makeup and concealers became a favorite must have for her, she has found out that the secret to getting away with lying is by believing it with all your heart, that went to lying to herself more than she lied to another…

She laid by her bed side, she had given up and had no more strength,  she slit her own wrist and watched in pains as her eyes beheld her last sight.

Folake: (Pushed off a building) 

Folake

Year after year,  her faith that one day, she will change the man she has come to call her husband…  The man she has taken his last name, the man who she’s had her offsprings for, the man who beats her up all the time…  The man who forgets that she is a woman that  bruises easily, the man who’s  temper surges like the deep waves of the ocean…  The man who pushed her off a building.

Chioma ( Shot to the head in an alley) 

Chioma

Just like a leopard cannot change its spots or a tiger it’s stripes,  so will a misogynistic  psychopath not be able to change his inert behavior…

Chioma had seen the warning, signs, it was staring right in the face but how could she notice them? She was more concerned about being Mrs Somebody, her parents taunted her,  her family made light jokes about her age and not been able to get married… Her friends were all married with kids so she lived a life of constant comparison.

She had finally hooked the big fish, a three time divorcee. he had shown his hatred for woman but she stayed…

After a minor argument, Mr Somebody has shot Chioma and dumped her in an alley…

It turns out that Janet Jackson had been in an abusive marriage. Her brother, Randy Jackson, disclosed this as the reason the star walked out of her marriage. It appears that no woman is too high up the ladder to escape domestic abuse. Violence against women comes in varying degrees, the extreme being physical violence that leads to a fatality.
Verbal abuse, sexual abuse or black eyes and swollen lips come under the label of domestic violence. This animalistic tendency has become so prevalent in the world, Nigeria in particular, that it is becoming alarming.

Why would a man, who professes love, raise his hands on that object of love? I disagree with Hon. Akande, Lagos State Commissioner of Women Affairs, who says that ‘women talk too much’, hence their husbands reign slaps on them. There is no excuse that should make a man raise a finger at any woman, not to talk of his wife, whom he has pledged to hold and cherish till death.
This aberration in relationships has been on for quite awhile but it has now come to the public sphere because celebrities are getting their share of slaps.
There is innumerable number of women who suffer in silence; trapped in a marriage where they have become punching bags for men of low self esteem. Scumbags!

No woman should sit put under such circumstances! Life is too short and too precious to lay it down for anybody. Pack your bags!

You don’t have to wait to end up  like Hadiza,  Folake or Chioma before you can voice out your cries.

Disclaimer : The scenarios depicted in this graphical images are solely the ideas of the editor and that of the creative director and his team,  any relations to a domestic abuse victim whether dead or alive is purely coincidental.

Credit

Words and Creative Director : Nelly Mesik

Photography: Trans4maz Photography

Stylist : Rhoda Ebun

Makeup: Adella Makeup

Hair: Tessy Hair

Designers: Telvino Bespoke,  Raffy Collection,  Weiz Dhurm Franklyn,

Models: Aduke Shitta-Bey of Beth Models and Nkem.

Location : House Of  Splendour Boutique Hotel,  Ikeja GRA,  Lagos.

NB: start a conversation with #Allurenotoviolence