From Silence to Strength: A Call to Action Against Gender-Based Violence
What would you do, if your basic right to safety was being taken away from you, over and over?
What would you do, if your basic right to safety was being taken away from you, over and over? This is not a question but a fact lots of women are living through in this world and I am no different.
I was a teenager when I had my first experience with gender-based violence, or so I thought until recently when a movie triggered repressed memories out of where it had been tucked away in my brain.
I was six when the unsolicited touches and penetration attempt from a family friend who was meant to be an older brother to me in his preteen years traumatised my innocent mind. Fortunately, the sudden voice and entrance of my sibling, oblivious to what had been taking place in this scene because of the blankets covering the bunk bed, made a way to my rescue.
After that incident, more instances of harassment happened to me from other people until I reached my teenage years, which made me gradually lose my voice and confidence until I heard the stories of women activists across the world.
These questions have been in my mind for quite a while: Why can't a young girl be safe around trusted family friends and peers? What pre-teen boy even thinks of molesting a little girl trusted in his care? And more incomprehensible, what is it precisely older men find in young girls? Those things really send shivers down the spine to think of.
The Reality of Gender-Based Violence Today
The problem of gender-based violence is not an exaggerated one, unlike most insensitive individuals' views; rather, it's an issue of social injustice that affects several parts of the world, strikes across borders, cultures, and socio-economic divides through its striking inflicts on victims, and perpetuation of system inequalities. Men, boys, and non-binary individuals are also victims at times, but such cases are normally underreported due to stigma. Today, my focus is on the women. GBV refers to all violent acts that are inflicted upon a person because of their identity as a man, woman, boy, or girl, and encompasses a broad continuum of violence, including physical, sexual, psychological, femicide, digital, stalking, and economic.
The UN Women reports that one in three women worldwide has experienced GBV in their lifetime, but Africa still bears a significant share of this burden. In many African societies, discriminatory cultural practices, economic disparities, and systemic patriarchy escalate GBV, which ranges from child marriages in West Africa to domestic violence in urban centres and female genital mutilation, to the bizarre widow rites in Eastern Nigeria. Several cases related to gender-based violence have been witnessed over the years, which have left many women worldwide living in fear. Shocking, while in Nigeria, was the incident of a 100-level UNIBEN student, Uwa Omozuwa, who was brutally raped and then murdered in a church she had gone to study.
Also, the recent murder of Rebecca Cheptegei, a marathon runner and a 2024 Olympic athlete, who was burned and murdered by her ex has sparked protests against femicide in Kenya while leaving other women in fear. While the cases of GBV in Africa are alarming, the stalking epidemic in many Asian countries is disturbing.
Stalking has been another medium many perpetrators of gender-based violence used to attack their victims and the attack and sexual assault of Ena Matsuoka, a young Japanese pop idol by a stalker in 2019 is a testament to this. Her stalker located her apartment location through the reflection of her eyes and her other social media posts and cross-referenced his precisions with Google Street View. He boasted about the alleged "achievement" during the hearing, displaying no trace of repentance after the arrest. It is sad that such energy and determination could not be put into creating a better contribution in life. With time, the incidences of GBV-related stalking among female pop idols, celebrities, and the general body of women in Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, China, India, and other Asian nations continue to increase. The need to address GBV is not only a moral one; it forms part of the collective action required to attain gender equity and raise societies that are inclusive and progressive.
Women Leading the Fight Against Gender-Based Violence
The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence is an annual international campaign running from the 25th of November, commemorated as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, up to the 10th of December, Human Rights Day. It is a call to the collective individual, community and government efforts to fight one of the most widespread human rights issues anywhere in the world.
Today, as the world marks Human Rights Day and the last day of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, my mind boggles with just some of the millions of voices of women who refused to be silenced by injustices and celebrate them. Their stories are becoming a collective call to action, challenging toxic norms and securing a future in which everyone has safety and is equitably considered.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: She is a Nigerian-born writer and activist, recognized more often as the face of the post-colonial feminist literature world. She advocates against gender inequality and GBV by telling stories and taking a stand for rights. Chimamanda's books and her TED Talk "We Should All Be Feminists" indirectly taught me to raise my voice and brought me out of my cocoon of low self-esteem. With her voice, she underscores the reality of domestic violence and patriarchal oppression, compelling many to begin talking about the social norms that facilitate GBV.
In her TED Talk, she called for a systemic change, with a belief that GBV is not just a question of women standing up, but that everybody should enter the ring, including men and challenge toxic masculinity. Chimamanda's voice is a beacon for change, reminding us that fighting GBV requires changing mindsets, building equality, and creating a world that is safer and more inclusive. Her work calls to take action in the face of norms that are perilous and to stand in solidarity with survivors on the path to a nonviolent future.
Malala Yousafzai: She is a Pakistani female education activist and a film and television producer. Although in 2012 she survived an assassination attempt, she moved to the UK with her family, and further on, continued to advocate for girls' education both in Pakistan and worldwide consistently. She also co-founded the Malala Fund, which empowers every girl to attain the future they envision, with her father as her main inspiration. Later, in December 2014, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and she became the youngest Nobel laureate ever at the age of 17. Her story inspires every woman never to give up in the fight against gender-based violence.
Tusaiwe Munkhondya: She is the founder of the nonprofit organization "You Are Not Alone" (YANA) that provides support and education to teen mothers, special needs kids, abandoned babies, orphans, and street kids in Malawi. At the age of 25, she built a village with housing facilities, a farm, and a school that accommodates more than two hundred students, using her story as a drive. Abandoned at birth, raped between the ages of 6 and 13, impregnated at 16, gave birth to a special needs son, and homeless by age 17, Tusaiwe hit the ground running and founded her organisation with determination and fervour toward ending child marriages, fostering children, and inclusive education. She also developed a good relationship with the Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability, and Social Welfare in Malawi, and also with corporate donors and individual donors. Tusaiwe's story has been my biggest inspiration since I came across her page on Instagram last year. She is an icon herself.
Nice Nailantei Leng'ete: Nice is an award-winning Kenyan human rights activist who actively campaigns and advocates for the abolition of FGM. Through her work with Amref, she has, so far, protected more than 20,000 girls from undergoing genital mutilation and child marriage across the continent. At the age of 8, Nice ran away from home to escape FGM and was subjected to corporal punishment and social ostracism for refusing to be initiated. She later begged her grandfather, a Maasai elder, to let her forgo the rite so that she could remain in school. This was the beginning of her activism as she started harbouring young girls who came to her for help to run away from circumcision. Shunned by the community for this, Nice continued to speak for the girls and called on the villagers to talk about sensitive issues. Later, she became the first woman in her village to be given the 'Black Walking Stick', a symbol of leadership and respect, and with it came the right to wield influence in the community. She and her grandfather later convinced the rest of Noomayianat's elders to abolish FGM. In 2021, she published a book entitled 'The Girls in the Wild Fig Tree: How I Fought to Save Myself, My Sister, and Thousands of Girls Worldwide' and she is currently an inspiration to many women, as she speaks on many international stages.
As we celebrate these phenomenal women, let us shout out to our mothers, who have survived this now normalised discriminative system of gender-based violence.
A Call to Action
Stories of Uwa, Nice, Tusaiwe, Matsuoka, Rebecca, and so many other women make us mindful that GBV is not an abstract problem; it is a personal one, urgent, and soluble. As we conclude this 16-day activism, let their memory be a beckon to more meaningful change.
We each can play a part, whether in amplifying survivors' voices, supporting grassroots initiatives, or challenging patriarchal norms at home, school, and work. Together, we can break the vicious cycle of violence once and for all and ensure each person enjoys the right to live free from fear.
It's time to act. Will you join the fight?
War against GBV 💪
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