Over the last six days, some of you may have noticed women and women groups, particularly those working in the development sector, donning orange-coloured apparels.
It is not aso-ebi for owambe.
You may have also noticed different women groups organising activities over this period and must have been wondering what is going on.
Well, women are raising awareness about issues of violence as it concerns them and orange is the theme colour for all related events.
The issue of gender-based violence against women is one that can never be spoken of enough.
This is because the more it is talked about, the more cases seem to be recorded, especially in a society such as ours where such crimes are covered with the shroud of culture and religion.
Many women have met their untimely deaths at the hands of those who perpetrated one form of violence or the other towards them.
A new report by UN Women and the UN Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) has shown that women and girls are more at risk of getting killed at home by intimate partners or family.
According to the report released ahead of the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women last Friday, more than five women or girls are killed every hour across the world by their partners or families.
The report said that while men are subjected to higher rates of homicides across the world, women and girls are disproportionately affected by higher rates of homicides in private spaces.
In 2021, 81,000 women and girls were killed intentionally, of which around 45,000 – some 55 per cent – were killed by their own intimate partners or family members. By comparison, 11 per cent of the total male homicides happened in private spaces.
In 2021, findings of a World Health Organisation-led report showed that almost one in three women experience physical and/or sexual violence across the course of their lifetimes, and in the previous 12 months, more than one in ten women suffered from physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence.
Africa was found to be the region with the highest level of violence relative to the size of its female population.
Recently, the media in Nigeria was awash with the story of a middle-aged woman simply identified as Sadiya, who was locked up and starved for one year by her husband, Ibrahim Yunusa in Nguru, Yobe State, until she was recently rescued.
For one year, he kept her away, purportedly to prevent his family members from harming her, and only fed her a local grain gruel, kunu. She was taken to a hospital after her rescue but unfortunately lost her life.
In Ogun State, a 51-year-old man, Oluranti Badejo, allegedly strangled his 40-year-old wife, Folasade, to death and burnt her body with a hot iron, recently, following an argument over the payment of their three children’s school fees.
A similar incident occured in Ondo State where a 42-year-old businessman, Kelechukwu Onuka, allegedly murdered his wife, Nnenna, over dispute on “unexplained” N10 million
The suspect had reportedly accused his wife of hiding the money, sent to the victim by one of her relations abroad, to assist in a building project, from him.
It is to draw attention to issues such as the above that the UN women set aside 16 days every year since1991, from November 25 to December 10, as days of activism for the cause of women.
The Global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence against women is an international campaign originating from the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute in 1991. It was launched and continues to be coordinated by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership.
The entire essence of this campaign is to link violence against women and human rights and make the point that gender-based violence against women is a violation of human rights.
Through the activities that are usually organised by various groups and individuals to mark the 16 days campaign, calls are usually made for the elimination of all forms of gender-based violence against women.
In addition to that, there is also advocacy and awareness creation about gender-based violence against women as a human rights issue at the local, national, regional and international levels.
Avenues such as this create an opportunity to demonstrate the solidarity of women around the world organising against gender-based violence against women and creating tools to pressure governments to implement commitments to eliminate gender-based violence against women.
Since the day was first commemorated, over 6000+ organisations in approximately 187 countries have participated in the Global 16 Days Campaign with a reach of 300 million.
The theme of this year’s campaign as designated by the UN Women is: “UNiTE! Activism to end violence against women and girls.”
Principles of the theme, according to the UN Women include honouring and acknowledging women’s movements, leaving no one behind, using a survivor-centered approach that is multi-sectoral and transformative, elevating the voices of young feminists, and using the color orange as a source of unity across campaign messaging.
The UNFPA has also expressed its commitment to disrupting and ending all forms of violence against women and girls and other harmful practices by 2030. The organisation points out that the 16 Days of Activism campaign provides an important platform each year to focus the world’s attention on our common goal of ending violence against women and girls.
UNFPA says it will, this year, under the UNiTE theme, “Activism to End Violence against Women & Girls”, focus on making online spaces safe by highlighting digital violence and all forms of gender-based violence (GBV) facilitated by technology.
“We will also focus on innovations in GBV prevention and response measures, as well as the power of combining art and activism (artivism) to disrupt violence in both the real and virtual worlds. By amplifying the voices of changemakers we work towards our goal of ensuring that women and girls can exercise their inalienable right to feel safe, thrive and flourish wherever they find themselves.
One of the reasons gender-based violence against women persists in our society is because there is an unwritten code to either shame the victim or make them remain in that situation until they sometimes lose their lives.
Rape victims who report are either shamed or blamed for their circumstance, women suffering abuse from their spouses are told to stay back and endure and even law enforcement agents are caught in this unfortunate web of victim shaming.
There is, therefore, the need to as a people, avail victims a positive experience when they make reports about gender-based violence. By doing this, trust is built, lives can be potentially saved and other victims are encouraged to report crimes.
It is our duty to ensure that all girls and women are safe from all forms of violence in their communities, families, places of worship, schools and other public spaces.
