FEMINIST FORUM CALLS FOR ADVANCING THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN NIGERIA

The Nigerian feminist forum has called on the federal government of Nigeria and all stake holders to adopt public policies that will protect, promote, advance and enhance the rights of women and girl child that will lead to a more developed society, while ending the present violence against women and girls in Nigeria.

This was part of a press statement that was released and presented to the public at a press conference today which was held at the Grand Bee hotel in Ikeja by the forum.  The statement was presented by Miss. Chinonso Okechukwu also call on Nigerians to join the fight against Sexual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV) and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).

The press release praised the effort of women related NGO who were the front runners of the feminist movement in the country. “Nigerian women are not monolithic or homogenous, we are not all short, fat and round and therefore women’s rights activists, women organizations and women movements have been at the forefront of effort to advance gender equality; they were the first to push authorities to take women’s rights seriously.”

They also commend the effort of the Nigerian governor’s forum and the federal executive council (FEC) in the declaration of the state of emergency and the recently inaugurated the presidential inter-ministerial committee on Sexual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV), while calling on state government, religious leaders as well as tribal leaders to do more to stop the present increase of violent crimes against women and children in the country.

In her opening address, Mrs. Iheoma Obibi said that the Name feminist is one that has been highly misunderstood by Nigerians, adding that the movement is not one that seek to break the home or family structure within our culture, rather it is one that seeks to protect and enhance the family within the context of the family. “We must never undermine the role of feminism in our society,” she added.

She berated the ideas of young men raping young girls and women without displaying any emotions while getting praise at the right duty of a man. She added that “all the acts and law in Nigeria saying that they were one of the best in the world. She however noted that the enforcement of these laws is poor and needed to be improved on.