This is what change looks like 

Nigerian women are leading a national movement to change the culture of violence against women and girls. Across the country women are standing up and acting as a catalyst for local solutions to the endemic problems of rape and violence. 

For years the issue of violence against girls was either ignored or dismissed. When it was acknowledged, solutions were sometimes seen as impossible because these patriarchal attitudes were ‘part of Nigerian culture.’ 

The past decade has seen a shift in attitudes and Nigerian leaders are increasingly coming to terms with the scale of the problem and promising support to find solutions. The Nigerian government has adopted the Child Rights Act and have put in place a comprehensive legal framework to protect children and prosecute rapists.

Breaking the silence on the issue has encouraged more families to come forward and report cases of rape. This increase in reporting is now flooding law enforcement and judicial systems and ringing alarm bells about the need for more funding and resources to cope with this surge. 

Political support for the movement in cities like Lagos have helped create a proactive culture where community leaders and police are working together with unprecedented coordination to implement a policy of zero tolerance for child rape. 

While political leadership has been essential to this shift, the real heroes of this movement are the women activists who have pushed for better services for rape survivors. In Lagos, and across the country, these women have overcome incredible obstacles to set up rape crisis centers, legal support systems, counselling services, school outreach networks and community engagement programs. 

This constellation of organizations was not part of a government master plan, but rather it developed organically, driven by fearless women who identified needs and developed solutions to fill the gaps. From Mirabel Rape Crisis Center in Lagos, to Rashidat Mohamed’s pro-bono law firm in Sokoto, this movement has many names and many faces. 

There is no central command and the movement has no singular leader. It is a collective of men and women who have had enough. It’s united by a refusal  to accept this fallacy that Nigerian culture tolerates violence against girls and that it cannot be changed. 

Rather than waiting for the government to act, these changemakers have recognized the urgency of the crisis and their own ability to intervene. Some of these programs are modest in scale, like the program that empowers Abiola, a stall holder at the Iwaya market in Lagos. She carries on with her business, but she is supported and empowered to be a focal point in the community to have discussions about violence against girls. She helps girls stay safe by talking about prevention and their own rights. When incidents happen, she ensures that families know how to report it to the police and how to access the right support for their girls to recover.

There is a long way to go before we realize the dream of a more peaceful Nigeria where girls do not live in fear of being attacked or raped. Speaking out is a necessary first step, but this courage must be met with better services to access justice and facilitate recovery. The government has a critical role to play in leading the way, providing the necessary resources and removing the obstacles. But the government alone cannot solve this problem and we need to recognize the grassroots efforts that are driving real change in communities across the country. 

Let us celebrate their heroic efforts, and join them in this movement to end violence against women and girls.