The culture of invalidating women and shutting down their experiences because people are uncomfortable with the conversation needs to die. The idea of tagging women-centred conversations as an agenda is a shallow and unfair attempt at creating a distraction. To counter this, we have compiled a list of things Nigerian women do not need a time-table to discuss:
1.Femicide
With the rise in femicide in Nigeria lately, it is an important conversation that needs to keep happening without being shut down.
2.Pregnancy, fertility and childbirth
The habit of keeping things secret amongst Nigerians has led to a lot of unshared information about pregnancy, childbirth and fertility. When women share their experiences, do not silence them. People who are incessant about silencing women should please read this.
3.Harassment
From home to school to protest grounds and anywhere else people gather, women have suffered harassment. From infancy to adulthood, no woman is safe. Although this is not uncommon for women alone, it is more common for women to get shut down during conversation about harassment. There is no scheduled time for these discussions, every time is a perfect time to talk about it.
4.Rape
UNICEF reported in 2015 that one in four girls in Nigeria has experienced sexual violence before the age of 18. More data retrieved from WARIF about the prevalence of rape and rape culture further increases the need for conversations around the unsafety and abuse of women. Until rape ceases to exist, women should always be able to talk about it.
5.Female genital mutilation
According to Wikipedia, nationally, 27% of Nigerian women between the ages of 15 and 49 were victims of FGM, as of 2012. Nigeria, due to its large population, has the highest absolute number of female genital mutilation (FGM) worldwide, accounting for about one-quarter of the estimated 115–130 million circumcised women in the world.
Issues that plague women should not be used as content for banter. This includes FGM.
Please remember that every time is a good time to discuss the injustices that women live through each day.
