It is no more news that human rights violation against women are rampant those days such as sexual harassment, gender discrimination, harsh and punitive widowhood rites, forced childhood marriages, harmful traditional practices, disinheritance of wives and daughters.

From birth, females are considered inferior to men, most especially in developing countries like Africa. It is no more news the preference of most parents to have male children, probably to carry on the family's name as heir apparent since their female counterparts will definitely join the bone of their bones some day. Most people believe that the main role of a woman is to perform domestic services, child bearing and only compliment the effort of the husband on his instruction.

Nigeria is traditionally a male dominated society though women make up to half of our estimated 120 million populations but are only seen than heard. In an extreme case, like Northern Nigeria, women are not even seen at all. The women face barriers to full employment and other rights due to ethnicity, culture, religion and inadequate education. Traditionally, women in Nigeria face deep prejudices, discrimination, and barriers to their progress in areas of education, politics, economics, nutrition, healthcare and equality.

Women in Africa are treated as second class citizens with little or no respect and they also suffer physical violence. In some societies women are punished for committing adultery unlike the opposite sex. Also in some cultures wives are always accused of being responsible for the death of their husbands as they pass through ordeals, ranging from drinking the water used in bathing their husband’s corpse to prove their innocence, and the total dispossession of her late husband's property. In some cases, she is banished into exile by the kinsmen or her in-laws leaving her with little or nothing that further subject her to life of abject penury.

At the death of a father or husband, female whether as wives or children are excluded from the inheritance bequeathed by the departed bread winners. This act is promoted by selfish male-chauvinists and primordial custom and cultures.

It is rampant in Africa to treasure boy, this is based on the assumption that boys are more fruitful, there are significant cases where only the boys are sent to school leaving the girls behind which contributes to the high level of illiteracy amongst girls and women these days. In most cases, they are excluded from taking decisions on pressing issues both in the family and in the society at large as a result of the assumption that it is a men's world.

Many societies continue to celebrate the birth of male-child, while a girl born to a family is accorded little or no celebration. What it means is that boys are of more economic importance and generally valued to girls. This explains why some men engage in polygamy once the first wife could not bear a male child. This prompted the craze by many wives’ desire to have male children for their husbands.

The womenfolk are indeed faced with too much of troubles not to talk of the pain in labour and the genital mutilation which is rampant in developing countries. In fact the barbaric mutilation through non-sterilized equipments without anesthetics, not only exposes the victims to long term health effects such as HIV/AIDS, urinary and reproductive tract infection, it may also lead to premature death from excessive bleeding.

In Nigeria, there is little law banning the practice of female genital mutilation without enforcement. It is the responsibility of the state to prevent and eliminate harmful practices and laws against women. According to the 1999 constitution of Nigeria in chapter 3 section 26(2)(a), when a Nigerian man marries a foreigner she becomes a citizen of the country but the reverse is the case for women that marries a foreigner. Her husband is not recognized as a citizen and still needs to apply for a visa to enter his wife’s country. We are all equals, why shouldn’t women be given the same rights as men?

These several unbecoming practices against women clearly violate human rights and dignity of women. It is necessary to call to on government to take drastic measures to reduce the level of illiteracy in the rural areas while parents must send their girls to school. Government should enact laws that will prohibit harmful practices against women which must be vigorously enforced. Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Human Rights Watch and other non-governmental organization must intensify effort to ensure that women are liberated from the unfair treatment. Religious leaders too should preach against theses acts while the Media should carry out a radical campaign to sensitize the general public on the implications of maltreatments meted out on womanhood. It requires a collective effort in united solidarity to end traditional practices and harmful laws that harm women.

As the saying goes “what a man can do a woman can do better”. This error onus impression about woman has been proved wrong by the likes of Okonjos, Akunyilis, Ezekwesilis, Gambo Sawaba ,Laila Dogonyaro etc. It's high time we gave woman their pride of place in nation building

Preye Dambo

National Press Centre

Abuja

preyedambo@yahoo.com

Robot  # 1 | 05.09.2008 02:11

It is no more news that human rights violation against women are rampant those days such as se...Read the full article.

Kurunmi  # 2 | 05.09.2008 08:39

This thing that is happening is very bad

M. Akosa  # 3 | 05.09.2008 09:47

May God bless this article writer, and continue to give you wisdom and the intellect to see through the facade and the rotten Nigerian societal practices. From the South to the North, East and West of Nigeria, they all have seriously fundamentally destructive values, beliefs, cultural practices and norms that undermine, humiliate, retard, ruin, degrade, abuse, exploit their own girls and women. The road indeed to achieving human right, justice, equality, dignity and respect for the Nigerian society, most urgently for their girls and women, is a very very long road. In my own assessment the journey has so far not yet began. We urgently need local and international awareness to our problems, to expose, publicize the horrible life conditions and tragedy the Nigerian woman is made to experience on daily basis. May God help us on this journey.

Ayomide  # 4 | 05.09.2008 14:28

Ahhhhh!! Say it Sista, say it, again and again. I love your article, courageous woman! Isn’t that something?? To add some practical examples, I’ll start with an incident I witnessed a few weeks ago while I was at an immigration office. I had overheard all the official men and one woman embarrassing and raining all manners of verbal abuse on this young 21 year-old girl. As I later found out, that was her 4th visit to that office as she was trying to get a passport for overseas travel. Her ?boss, the woman, was almost slapping her on the back as they watched her trembling and failed attempts to sign her name! She could not spell her own name. She could not even write her initials. I could only place myself in her shoes and I went ballistic. I said: “madam, how long has she lived with you”? She replied, “all her life!” I then asked why she had never been to school. She mumbled in-audible words to the tune that “they” had tried to teach her how to simply scribble her initials in the past 4 days. FOUR days!! I looked at her from bottom to top, and said “you mean you’ve never sent her to formal school, and she’s slaved for you all her childhood years? You mean she’s never seen a classroom, yet she took care of your children (and I’m sure the whole family) as they grew up? That is sheer wickedness, maam. Why don’t you take her home, save her from this embarrassment, send her to some formal school, and bring her back in a few months. Wherever you’re taking her to will require basic English for survival too, you know”. The madam ignored me, proceeded to answer her phone call inside the supposedly high security immigration office…. Oh now, she’d done it, I said. “Madam, it’s your type that’s making this country so bad, take yourself and your phone outside this office, NOW!” I was surprised that the immigration officials were listening and they too supported me as we ushered both of them outside the office. Nonsense!! A sister lost her husband at 36, two years later, she is still struggling with herself and the psychological stigma as you described. The house they built together was taken from her overnight because she didn’t have any children yet. She is back at home now, receiving lots of mental health therapy and encouragement from family. A few days ago, she sent me her “Thoughts” in an article. I never thought she could write like that. Well educated, and beautiful for that matter, but mentally diminished from societal false expectations… She is going through her catharsis and healing one day at a time, thankfully. In as much as ours is a patriarchal society entrenched in male chauvinism, we women have to continue to empower each other a lot. And I’m not saying that our roles may not be different in our individual homes, no, not at all; I’m saying we have to be viewed as equal partners, regardless, at home or at work. Let’s save each other from perpetual slavery if some men will not openly come to our aid or support us. We will continue to speak out and struggle. Through education, we will be heard!

M. Akosa  # 5 | 05.09.2008 18:46

Thank you so much Ayomide, for sharing this heart breaking story. We need to hear it, see it, expose it to the world in order to be believed, that despite all the facade of the loving Nigerian family picture we are made to see daily, in reality it is the opposite, for many of our sisters. Too many Nigerian girls and women will never get to have or know what love, compassion, humanity, dignity is all about in their life time. Betrayal starts from the very day they were born, by their own fathers, mothers, sisters, uncles, aunties and community. Girls are nothing but mere object for exploitation in Nigeria. The values and the accepted norms for a woman to have a husband no matter what, even makes it worse for so many. Exposing them to violence, health crisis, condemnation to poverty and for many untimely death. Easily labeled and branded as witches, prostitutes, degraded and humiliated to forever begging, for their own basic rights and dignity. Women like us with conscience, education, opportunity and blessed so much by God, that it can never ever be our portion in this life, has an obligation to tell the tales of our sisters, who are not fortunate enough like us, cry for their tears, pray that their lives, spirits and souls will receive the liberty, freedom, protection, honor and dignity they so much deserve.

Kurunmi  # 6 | 07.09.2008 05:38

=M. Akosa;4295094127>Thank you so much Ayomide, for sharing this heart breaking story. We need to hear it, see it, expose it to the world in order to be believed, that despite all the facade of the loving Nigerian family picture we are made to see daily, in reality it is the opposite, for many of our sisters. Too many Nigerian girls and women will never get to have or know what love, compassion, humanity, dignity is all about in their life time. Betrayal starts from the very day they were born, by their own fathers, mothers, sisters, uncles, aunties and community. Girls are nothing but mere object for exploitation in Nigeria. The values and the accepted norms for a woman to have a husband no matter what, even makes it worse for so many. Exposing them to violence, health crisis, condemnation to poverty and for many untimely death. Easily labeled and branded as witches, prostitutes, degraded and humiliated to forever begging, for their own basic rights and dignity. Women like us with conscience, education, opportunity and blessed so much by God, that it can never ever be our portion in this life, has an obligation to tell the tales of our sisters, who are not fortunate enough like us, cry for their tears, pray that their lives, spirits and souls will receive the liberty, freedom, protection, honor and dignity they so much deserve. Indeed a pathetic situation for women. However, there's alot already done but also yet to be done. Women need to do a lot for the process of change.Educaion is key but some of the gains thus far are being depleted by corrupt activities of "educated" women. Some of the practices that are discriminatory against women are entrenched in our laws while others are reinforced by our strong local customs and traditions. There is therefore the need to review the relevant laws and also the customs and traditions.The methods towards achieving these are myriad but tedious and full of obstacles, at times erected by women.Amongst the many questions that may arise includes the one that goes-"is equal rights for men and women achieveable?" Because we love our mothers, daughters, wives and other women around us, it is easy to appreciate the said discriminatory practices,BUT it is doubtful that we will help to change it if we are sure that the same will be replaced by discrimination against men.