#VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: "Breaking The Silence"

V.A.W: BREAKING THE SILENCE.

The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993) states that "violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women, which has led to domination over and discrimination against women by men and to the prevention of the full advancement of women…..”

Rape and other forms of violence against women are grossly under reported because of the stigma associated with it, especially victims of sexual violence who are stigmatized by the society instead of the perpetrator. A lot of women feel they are not taken seriously by the police when they report matters of violence against them. In most other cases, the women are financially dependent on the men and at such; they bear all sort of physical and psychological abuse in silence. Relatives are more concerned about saving the face of the family and keeping peace that women are pressured into staying in an abusive relationship.


Violence against women in Nigeria can be solved by empowering women to be financially and emotionally independent, creating awareness among the women folk to see that no one deserves to be abused in any way, counseling and encouraging victims of violence to speak out. Families of victims of such abuse should have access to justice. By creating an alternative and affordable means of dispute resolutions and providing victims with medical care and shelter.

Chidi Odinkalu in his keynote remarks at the opening of Mirabel Centre, a refuge for battered women in Lagos said “…….Such a country needs us to call VAW by its name- a crime and a public health crisis. Achieving such a country requires us to confront together common problems of violence as well as pathologies of economic inequality, access to livelihood and age- long discrimination against women that underpin it…….”



WHAT IT MEANS TO STRUGGLE………

This article was written by Apholmida Haruna Tsammani. she is  Freelance Writer and a Blogger. you can get connected to her Blog at www.missmidalicious.blogspot.com