Words by- Josephine Agbonkhese

Globally, nearly one in three women has experienced physical or sexual violence at least once in her lifetime. This level of violence against women has remained largely unchanged over the years, despite tireless efforts to reverse the trend.
In fact, in times of crises, the numbers rise, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic and recent humanitarian crises, conflicts and climate disasters.

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It is on this premise that the United Nations, yearly, observes the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence from 25 November to 10 December, with the goal of creating awareness and preventing further acts of violence against women and girls.

As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to observe this year’s event under the global theme “Orange the World: End Violence against Women Now!” women’s rights activists from different generations share with Allure how they are evolving with new strategies to combat the menace.

Bukky Shonibare ——We released The Survivor’s Guide

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Bukky Shonibare is the Founder/Executive Director of Invictus Africa, where she promotes human rights and addresses inequalities affecting vulnerable people (especially women and girls) through evidence-based advocacies, legal reviews, and capacity development.
How are you running with the theme for this year’s 16 Days of Activism?
Through Invictus Africa, I am running with this year’s theme by furthering our Prevention, Accountability, Support (PAS) Project aimed at holistically responding to gender-based violence. On December 1, for instance, we released The Survivor’s Guide, a practical guide for survivors of rape and other forms of sexual violence. The guide helps survivors know: the different terms related to sexual violence, the lies, their rights, what to do and not do if raped or sexually violated, and where or how to access help. The Survivor’s Guide accompanies our Orange Pages, launched in July, a directory of 200+ GBV responders and service providers in Nigeria.
Have you figured out any new and more effective way of creating awareness against gender-based violence; outside what you’ve always practiced?
It is easy to assume that everyone, including the seemingly exposed and knowledgeable, know what GBV really means, and how it plays out in our daily lives. For instance, ‘consent’ is still contentious; and many still do not believe wives can be raped. Our approach, under the Prevention pillar of our PAS Project, is to keep breaking down GBV and sensitizing people through means, language, and examples that meet their level of exposure and understanding.
Have legislations supported your efforts as they should?
Yes. One of such is the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act 2015; an expansive and useful legislation in curbing GBV. In the states that has domesticated it, the VAPP Act provides a legal framework to ensure survivors’ rights are upheld and perpetrators are held accountable. However, only 27 out of Nigeria’s 36 states have domesticated the VAPP Act. Besides, legislations are useless if they are not rightly applied and implemented.

What three strategies would you say are important for preventing violence against women?
Every segment of the society must be continuously educated on GBV, using approaches and mediums that best reach them.
Laws relating to GBV must be followed and court judgments against perpetrators must be implemented.
Support systems and programs for survivors must be emplaced and adequately resourced.

Barr. Omowumi Ogunrotimi——–Our mobile app helps people anonymously report cases of sexual harassment

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Barr. Omowumi Ogunrotimi is a multi-disciplinary legal practitioner with demonstrated experience in policy advocacy, gender-based violence programming and community mobilisation. She is the Executive Director at Gender Mobile Initiative, which aims to increase the reportage and reduce the incidence of gender-based violence through coordination of linked services.

How are you running with the theme for this year’s 16 Days of Activism?
At Gender Mobile Initiative, we join the rest of the world in this global action through a series of virtual and physical events focused on galvanizing actions to dismantle patriarchy, deconstruct social norms and strengthen the voices of women to end violence against women and girls.

Have you figured out any new and more effective way of creating awareness against gender-based violence; outside what you’ve always practiced?
Our range of programs intended for diverse groups have enabled us to discover and employ a range of strategies aimed at creating awareness against gender-based violence; such as the use of peer learning and bystander intervention, to create a community of support for victims, survivors and targets, as the case may be. This has been made more effective by leveraging technology specifically designed to prevent and address instances of gender-based violence. An example of this is Gender Mobile’s Campus Pal, a mobile app specifically designed for persons to confidentially and anonymously report cases of sexual harassment in institutions of higher learning. Our helpline and web-based platforms have also proved effective in facilitating awareness while promoting proactive bystander intervention.

Have legislations supported your efforts as they should?
In spite of legal frameworks such as the Child Rights Act and the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act, compliance, enforcement and resource allocation for implementation remain a clog in the wheel of progress. Hence, there is a need for accountability mechanisms and increased collaborations between state and non-state actors, to ensure that cases of gender-based violence are properly addressed and justice is served.

What three strategies would you say are important for preventing violence against women?
Stemming from research and experience, we identify leveraging technology designed to address SGBV through dedicated reporting system, violence mapping data collection, transparency and accountability, as a proven strategy. Additionally, prevention and response efforts must be culturally appropriate and GBV should be addressed as a climate and culture issue.

Nkechi Obiagbaoso-Udegbunam——-We staged a unique community awareness walk

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Nkechi Obiagbaoso-Udegbunam is a human rights’ expert with years of experience in gender, social inclusion and development works. She is currently the Founder/Executive Director of the Initiative for Women and Girls Right Advancement (IWOGRA).

How are you running with the theme for this year’s 16 Days of Activism?
We have been organizing communities’ awareness walk to sensitize rural community members about the dangers of violence against women, why perpetrators should be punished, need to support women and girls’ protection and end cultural and social norms that permeates the practice of violence against women. Also, social media is being used to create awareness, share important information, trigger public discussions and condemnation of the practice of violence and the need to shift from the norms that encourage it.

Have you figured out any new and more effective way of creating awareness against gender-based violence; outside what you’ve always practiced?
Yes, I have and this was deployed during the Community Awareness Walk in the communities. The walk was done by the community women, girls, men and boys holding (household kitchen items, pots, frying Pans, trays and kettles as drums, while cooking spoons and turning sticks were used drums sticks. The uniqueness of the use of kitchen utensils caught the attention of the community members and this signifies that violence against women is a household and community problem and can be addressed by households and community members.

Have legislations supported your efforts as they should?
So far, there are legislations like the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015, prohibiting and punishing the commission of violence against women; but implementation and the requirement for a witness to prove a rape case, continues to be a challenge under our criminal justice system.

What three strategies would you say are important for preventing violence against women?
Empowerment of women, transformation of attitudes, beliefs and norms, and implementation of laws prohibiting violence against women are some of the key strategies.

Betty Abah ——- We have resorted to producing short advocacy movies

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With over 10 years of experience in the NGO sector, Betty Abah is the Founder and Executive Director of CEE-HOPE, a nonprofit which works with at-risk girls in slum communities across Nigeria.

How are you running with the theme for this year’s 16 Days of Activism?
I am fired to do the best I can in my writing and mainstream advocacy to give voice to victims and survivors of Gender-Based Violence (GBV). Against the background of heightened rates of GBV across the world, no thanks to COVID-19 and associated economic instabilities and pressures, we are doing the much we can to create awareness about safety and de-escalation of intimate partner conflict, show solidarity with survivors and those impacted by GBV, while also campaigning for justice for perpetrators of GBV.
Have you figured out any new and more effective way of creating awareness against gender-based violence; outside what you’ve always practiced?
Yes, as Chinua Achebe would say in his book ‘Things Fall Apart’, “Enekwe the bird says since men have learnt to shoot without missing, they have also learnt to fly without perching.” It’s a digitally dynamic world; thus, one of the efficient advocacy tools is through the use of digital platforms. Besides utilising social media, at CEE-HOPE, we have also resorted to producing short advocacy movies and docudramas as part of our campaigns to reach a broader audience and achieve lasting results via digital platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter among others. Our latest production is ‘Rape of Justice’ which utilizes drama, narrative and interviews to highlight a case of gang-rape that we handled seven years ago in which the police took bribe, released the four suspects without trial, beat up and detained the father of the teenage rape survivor/victim. Like others, this new short video production is our way of shining a light on the evils of GBV and the need for actions that would mitigate them. The production was released about a month ago and we intend to screen it in a number of communities around Lagos and Ogun States, including the community where the incidence occurred.

Have legislations supported your efforts as they should?
Well, we have legislations including the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act of 2015 but, most times, they are not implemented or enforced. Thus, we basically keep going round the same thing and the statistics of GBV keep spiking. Basic enlightenment about the existence of these legislations and how people can leverage on them to enforce their rights is also another problem. We have made some progress though, but, there is still a lot of work to be done.

What three strategies would you say are important for preventing violence against women?
I would say awareness, support for survivors and enforcement of laws against GBV to ensure that perpetrators are handed the wrath of the law and also that each conviction, each punishment of offenders no matter their societal status or socioeconomic connections, can effectively serve as a deterrence to potential offenders.

Dr. Lydia Umar ———We are creating awareness in Kaduna State

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Dr. Lydia Umar is the Executive Director of Gender Awareness Trust (GAT), a non-governmental organisation based in Kaduna State. She is an expert in women’s rights, good governance, peace building and conflict resolution. Umar currently represents civil societies on the EndSARS panel.

How are you running with the theme for this year’s 16 Days of Activism?
Gender Awareness Trust has a project that’s supported by ActionAid Nigeria to enlighten the public about issues around sexual and gender-based violence. We are using scenerios that everyone is familiar with; abandonment, rape, domestic violence, violence in the work place, and so on. What’s important about this radio programme is that we also offer the listeners the opportunity to speak. They phone in and tell us their experiences and also suggest how they think we can help overcome this menace in our society.
Have you figured out any new and more effective way of creating awareness against gender-based violence; outside what you’ve always done?
What we’re doing this year is exactly outside what we’ve always practised. We are also showing the Nexus between GBV and the Kaduna State Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law 2018.
We are trying to engage the public to understand that now there’s a law in Kaduna State. We are creating awareness about what it says about GBV and what they are expected to do when they go through it. We want an increase in voice for a break in silence. Even if it’s not happening to you, but to a neighbour, speak out. And then we give out phone numbers on how to engage so something can be done. Enough of this impunity; of people doing things and getting away with them.
Have legislations supported your efforts as they should?
No. In fact, Gender Awareness Trust is actually the NGO that led other NGOs and stakeholders to push for the law in Kaduna State; up to the signing and gazetting.
But the issue now is that people are not aware of its provisions. That’s why this year, we are trying to connect GBV with that law.
What three strategies would you say are important to curb violence against women?
I would say socialization is number one. Everyone has a duty at the family level to socialize their boys and girls into adopting a culture of zero tolerance for violence. Then education; if we can have things like human rights, which include women and gender rights, in our curriculum, right from primary to the university level, it will go a long way to create a way among children.Some of us adults have already imbibed the terrible culture. But, if we can get it stopped with the little ones that would be a plus.
Finally, prosecution; I think a lot of these things have been going on because those who perpetrate such horrible things get away with them. Nothing is done to them. But now, with the law in Kaduna State and at the national level, we are looking at a situation where offenders and perpetrators can never get away with their crimes.