Nigerian pidgin: Body no be firewood.
Translation: I don't have total
control of what I do with body.
Nigerian pidgin: Woman no dey talk "NO".
Translation: A woman's "No" can be her "Yes".
Nigerian pidgin: Why she dey come close to me wetin she dey find?.
Translation: If she didn't want it, why else will she be coming close to me?.
As individuals we have the responsibility to constantly examine our mind set, modify our thinking so that we can make a quality and rational decision, that'll positively affect us and society at large. We have to constantly purge ourselves of traits of rape culture, from our orientation of our gender identities to how we respond to relating cases. As individuals we can start taking actions and not leaving everything in the hands of law enforcement agencies, in our little way we can influence change. Change begins with you!.
HOW YOU CAN HELP.
Personal Inspection.
Like I said earlier, a personal examination of your mindset, attitudes, behaviours and orientation about the opposite sex should be thoroughly checked and challenged. For the male folks, critical look at the concept of masculinity and what it should mean to you. Community conversations are also helpful to examine and redefine masculinities.
Stop victim-shaming.
Just talking about it can be difficult. The trauma of being raped is enough to cause an increase in suicidal ideation.
When interacting with a person who have been sexually abused, your goal is to relief them of the depression or trauma already tormenting them, you must avoid asking too many question, according to experts, pointing out if the victim was in the position to be rape unconsciously; like drunk and the perpetuator offered to give the victim a ride home, unknowingly to the victim... This situation implicitly make excuses for the perpetrator. Thereby decreases the victim’s willingness to report because of fear of being shamed by the public which can cause self-blame, this is more frequent with children. Often, adults experience self-blame after been blamed for the hurt they had to endured. Please STOP if you are a victim-shamer.
Self-orientation on rape culture.
To lock up this monster in the dungeon, we must understand the root of this system, and its effect on the victims and society at large. It’s important to know that rape culture is not only when a woman or girl is sexually abused by a man.
There are some actions carried out against women that rob them of their societal rights, example of such is, child marriage, this is rampant in the northern part of Nigeria amongst many other ill practices against women.
Spread your knowledge.
After broadening your knowledge about the subject, you can confidently start up or join in the conversation.
Talk to most persons you come in contact with, orient your family members, friends, neighbors about how to work hand in hand to put an end to rape culture within your community.
This act must not go unpunished.
Perpetrators must face judgement. So far, the law enforcement agencies across different countries have been working tooth and nail to see that no perpetrator goes unpunished. By passing the adequate punishment, it shows that the government recognize these acts as crime.
Lastly, support every movement that has the goal to stop this evil. Thanks.
