On this International Women's Day......

          Flipping through the Newspaper on a Sunny day, a particular topic caught my attention. My God, what I saw brought tears to my eyes and a fierce hunger in me to revolt; women have been degraded to a level of nothingness.

 

         We have often been told that “equality for women has been won” but hey!! Cut the crap, that’s a big lie from the very pit of hell! What happens to women being killed by their partners, girls been victimized and raped? I read of stories which included the rape of a ten month old baby Hadiza, six year old daughter of a gateman, 19 year old Godiya who was raped by a Pastor, a six month old who was raped to death, are these facts part of the concept of equality between men and women? I also begin to wonder what pleasure a sensible man hopes to get from sex with a toddler except a mad man, yes, a mentally deranged and depraved personality.

       Another aspect that left me burning of this marginalized group is the pornography industry. The pornography industry has been taken to another level, degrading and demeaning the existence of the female folks. The display of women in a disgusting state for the pleasure of viewers including gross brutality and violence brings tears that burn so hot. I believe that behind the smiles, we do not know their pains, we do not know or have a clue as to what happens behind the scenes and the façade behind the videos. Women have also been turned into baby making machines. Most men marry for the sole purpose of procreation forgetting God’s main aim for creating a woman which is to be a companion. I recently watched a film where a husband found out that his wife was on the pill, he beat her up and while she was still recovering from the shock of it, he forcefully slept with her to make sure she got pregnant. Such brutality in this 21^st century? It just gives me the shivers. That is not even the worst of it, a girl is raped and brutalized but creations of God go ahead to post such a video online; what human does that to his fellow human. It reminds me of several videos which included the video of 3 women tortured and manhandled for stealing N50 Pepper; ordinary pepper! Sticks were inserted into their private parts as part of the torture process, such atrocity. Another girl was stripped naked and assaulted by the so-called thief catchers after she was caught with a stolen Blackberry. We sure know of the story of the girl who went to visit a friend she met on 2go and was gang raped with the full episode posted on the internet. Sit back, relax and ponder on the fate of these unfortunate girls.

         I believe section on 34(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended refers to the fact that a person is not to be subjected to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment but I also do not want to believe that it excludes the women from it’s protection. Now, people would say that rape occurs due to the provocative dresses that girls wear; Wow!!! That’s very impressive but does this theory also apply to the rape of toddlers by uncles, dads, brothers, cousins etc? Does it apply to the case of a girl who refused sexual advances from an admirer?  Does it apply to a girl coming back or going to vigil whose only crime was walking at night?

         The facts that cut through my heart are that some vile demons in form of women also help to perpetrate these evil deeds. It is an intractable question I find myself asking, women are supposed to fight, stand up and defend one another instead of engineering the whole deed and reducing their fellow woman to a sized pea. A widow is chased out of the house, common sense demands that the elderly mothers of the boy’s family should understand the plight of the widow instead they are the beginning and ending of the abuse in collaboration with the males in family, such wonder.

      It is time for liberation of women, for the whole world to move at a desired pace, the downtrodden group must be liberated. Women have a tremendous role to play not only in the liberation but in making sure that it is an all the way revolution. We are not baby factories, sex toys and worst of all punching bags, we are humans with feelings and capable of full equality in every realm.

       This is a clarion call to all the women and girls out there, we are specially created by God and should also partake in the fulfillment entitled to us. My ears tingle when I hear some chauvinistic males saying that girls can’t pass a particular limit. We can do it, we can be the best, we can excel in what we do and do it better that them, if we only can believe that being a girl doesn’t stop us from actualizing our full potentials.

        I leave with this final note, a woman was created from the ribs under his arms to be protected, close to his heart to be loved and not under his feet to be trampled upon. A man who shows any form of brutality doesn’t exhibit manly strength but is been deluded to show forth his weakness and insecurity.

 

Written by:
Khosy .E.