Rashidat Mohammed is a Human Rights Lawyer with a special interest in promoting the rights of women and children.She provides pro-Bono legal services for women and girls who have experienced violence in northwest Nigeria. She also represents vulnerable men and families who can't afford a lawyer and are struggling to get justice in the Nigerian legal system. As a passionate lawyer on human rights issues, she is well known in Sokoto for her outspoken defence of women and girls and her fierce prosecution of rapists and pedophiles. She is the first and only woman to open her own law firm within Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States. In addition to her round the clock work as a lawyer and activist, Rashidat is also a single mother who is the sole caregiver to her 3 children.
Grace’ was on her way home from her sister's wedding when a family friend offered her a ride on his motorbike. She declined, but he insisted so she reluctantly accepted. He didn’t take her home but drove instead to a local primary school where his friend was waiting. The two men took turns raping her and she blacked out. Security guards caught the men and held them at gunpoint while they called the police. Grace was so badly injured that she was in hospital for over a month. The trial is ongoing and she’s back in school and the rapists are in prison while the legal process drags on. She says she forgives them and doesn’t mind if they are released so long as she can get on with her life. She’s 15 years old.
Adeola is 13 years old and she lives in the semi industrial outskirts of Abuja. She was raped last year by her neighbor and kept quiet because of the threats she received. The rapist sent for her at school and when she didn’t come he threatened to kill her again. Afraid for her life, she obeyed his calls and raped her six times before her aunt noticed her leaving his house. Her parents confronted her and threatened to beat her if she withheld the truth. When she explained, she says she was badly beaten by her father. They pressed charges and the rapist was arrested. He was promptly released on bail. Even though Adeola and her family moved houses, the rapist lives nearby and came to threaten her mother to drop the case. Her mother refused to settle and is pursuing justice in the courts. She says the whole community is ‘mocking’ her daughter and the new landlord has offered money to sleep with Adeola. Her mother is scared to leave her at home and scared to let her out of the house.
Abiola is the leader of a neighborhood watch program to keep girls safe in the Iwaya market in Lagos. It’s a tough part of a big city and attacks against girls have increased in recent years. Abiola says things are changing. ‘Girls know they can come to me and I’ll help them,'she says. ‘But most of all, I get to know the girls and ensure they stay safe by avoiding dangerous places and bad situations.’ Abiola says it’s made a big difference for the girls, knowing there’s someone looking out for them.
“Although such cases of violence are rampant in the market area here, they are hardly reported,” says Abiola, a community activist working to protect children at the Iwaya market in Lagos. “This is because under-aged children are usually employed as shop attendants and if they make any mistake or do anything wrong they are mercilessly beaten.”
Ayo is an activist who’s determined to end rape in Nigeria. She set up an organization called stand to end rape and works with survivors to provide legal advice and emotional support. Ayo says awareness and prevention are as important as services. She goes around the city speaking with students to break the silence on rape and foster a more constructive conversation about how girls can be empowered to stop this cycle of violence.
Fatima was 12 when she was raped by her neighbor When her new husband found out she was arrested for adultery and her family had to pay a fine to have her released. She was pregnant with the rapist’s child and gave birth. Fatima had a mental breakdown and tries to harm herself and her family. Unable to leave the home and worried for her own safety, her family had taken to tying her leg to a tree or a stool. Without adequate counselling services available, Fatima’s future is uncertain. Case workers are aware of the issues and are working to increase support for her and many girls like her.
Jacinta was helping her grandmother by minding her informal store while she went to the market. An older man came and bought some tobacco and homemade gin, but when Jacinta went into the house to get a pen and calculate what he owed, he followed her inside. He threw her on the bed and tried to rape her. He violently assaulted her and injured her badly. She screamed but everyone was at the market. Eventually he left, and she immediately told her parents and they went to the police. Despite a depressingly low rate of reporting and conviction in Nigeria, ‘Jacinta’s’ case has been well handled and her attacker in behind bars. She hopes he stays there, but the sentencing is still pending, and some judges still hand out lenient prison terms to child rapists. A quiet day at her grandmother's house turned into a nightmare, but she’s moving on and hoping to go back to school soon. She’s planning on becoming a lawyer so she can protect other girls and help bring more rapists to justice.
Anaka is 8 years old. She was raped by her teacher. She told her parents and they pressed charges. The trial is still pending but Anaka is looking to the future and her studies. She wants to become a doctor.
Iwaya market, Lagos
The Sokoto Hospital Women’s Choir is made up of a group of women who were married at 11 or 12, and then experienced fistula. They were disowned by their husbands and eventually they formed a community at the hospital with other women who’ve been through identical trauma. They clean and support the hospital staff and they sing songs about the many ways that men have wronged them and caused them pain.
Self portrait by a rape survivor.
Flora’s child went missing a year ago. A woman had moved to their village and slowly became her friend. She offered to help look after the children while Flora went to the market. Flora began to trust her but then one day the woman vanished with her four year old son. The police have tried to track the woman and they suspect it’s a case of human trafficking to recruit child hawkers or to offer them for ritual sacrifice with traditional healers. Flora is devastated by the loss and still clings to the number of the woman who stole her child.
A woman prays at the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Abakaliki in Ebonyi state. The community has suffered with the epidemic of violence against girls including cases of child rape. The pastor says the church offers support to vulnerable girls who are left with unwanted pregnancies and social stigma. He says it’s critical that churches are central to the response to end violence because it can help change views of community leaders who help identify and report cases of rape in their neigborhoods.
Adaoma walks home with her daughter Adaora in rural Ebonyi state. Adaoma keeps her children close ever since Adaora was raped by a neighbor last year. Adaora was helping her mum by bringing in the family goat when she was attacked. They have pressed charges and the case is pending trial but she says it’s been hard living without a sense of security for her family.
