On November 25, 2022, the international, 16-day campaign against gender-based violence was kicked off in Lagos, Nigeria, with a play starring a cast of only females. The show, which is called ‘HEAR WORDS!’, is described by the creators as “a powerful piece of performance art targeting real issues that affect the lives of women and which limit their potential for independence, achievement and leadership”.
The show is part of a 16-day campaign, called ‘The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence’, which is an annual campaign that originates from the first Women’s
Africanews, ‘Nigeria Kicks Off UN Campaign Against Gender-Based Violence’ Africanews (27 November 2022) <www.africanews.com/2022/11/27/nigeria-kicks-off-un-campaign-against-gender-based-violence/> accessed 2 December 2022.
Hear Word, ‘Home’ <www.hearword.com/> accessed 2 December 2022.
Global Leadership Insitute in 1991. The campaign is coordinated by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership. In 2008, the United Nations launched a campaign, ‘UNiTE by 2030 to End Violence against Women’, which runs parallel to the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign.
According to the United Nations, the term ‘gender based violence’ (GBV) refers to “harmful acts directed at an individual or a group of individuals based on their gender’. Although the term itself is not specifically directed at women, it is primarily used in relation to women due to its roots in gender inequality, which leave women and girls particularly vulnerable to multiple forms of violence.
Worldwide nearly one in three women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence, according to the World Health Organization. This case is no different for Nigerian women. According to the Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) of 2018, 31 percent of women aged 15 to 49 have experienced, and 9 percent have experienced sexual violence. Moreover, 36 percent of ever-married women have experienced physical, sexual or emotional violence by their spouse. What is also concerning, is that the NDHS showed that 55 percent of female victims of physical or sexual violence never sought help to stop the violence. It is very likely that the Covid-19 pandemic, and the accompanied restrictions, have only added to
United Nations Women, ‘16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence’ <www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/unite/16-days-of-activism> accessed 2 December 2022.
Center for Women’s Global Leadership, ‘About the Global 16 Days of Activism Campaign’ <https://16dayscampaign.org/about-the-campaign/> accessed 2 December 2022.
United Nations Women (n 3).
United Nations Women, ‘Frequently Asked Questions: Types of Violence Against Women and Girls’ <www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/faqs/types-of-violence> accessed 2 December 2022.
Ibid.
World Health Organization, ‘Violence Against Women’ (9 March 2021) <www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women> accessed 2 December 2021.
National Population Commission and ICF, ‘Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey 2018’ (October 2019) 427 <www.dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR359/FR359.pdf> accessed 2 December 2022.
Ibid.
Ibid
the escalation of GBV. In fact, the United Nations has named GBV the ‘Shadow Pandemic’, referring to the global increase in domestic violence during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2015, the Nigerian government enacted the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, which aims to protect people against all forms of violence. Moreover, in 2020, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari emphasized the country’s determination to fight GBV “through the instrumentality of the law and awareness creation”. Sadly, the numbers of women falling victim to GBV have not seemed to decrease, as a United Nations Women report shows that 48 percent of women reported that they or a woman they know experienced GBV between April and September 2022.
The annual 16-day campaign that was kicked off in Nigeria by HEAR WORDS! aims, among others, to raise awareness about GBV as a human rights issue, strengthen local work, and demonstrate solidarity of women worldwide. The campaign will run until December 10, 2022, which is international Human Rights Day.
