Discussion about entry: KNOW AND SAY NO

This is discussion about KNOW AND SAY NO.

Know and Say No is an innovative idea that will help address violence against women in northern Nigeria.
Girls and Women in Nigeria.Akor Ojoma ‘s article “Nigeria: Violence Against Women - What's the Punishment?” that appeared in the January 26 2009 edition of the Nigerian paper the Daily Trust, reported on horrific acts of gender-based violence that does on unabated in the country: acid attacks being the most atrocious. The difficulty with curbing gender-based violence in this society, as explained by Ojoma, is that perpetrators are left to operate with impunity.

In Nigeria, as is the case in many third world countries, research on violence against women is negligible. Ojoma quotes Amnesty International as explaining the dearth of research on societal views as: "once a woman is married, she is expected to endure whatever she meets in her matrimonial home". According to Amnesty International’s deputy director Africa programme, Stephane Mikala, as quoted in the article, "On a daily basis, Nigerian women are beaten, raped and even murdered by members of their family for supposed transgressions, which can range from not having meals ready on time to visiting family members without their husband's permission. Tragically, husbands, partners and fathers are responsible for most of the violence against these women,"

Read more at Suite101: Violence Against Women in Africa: A Look at Gender-based Violence in South Africa and Nigeria http://subsaharanafricanaffairs.suite101.com/article.cfm/violence_agains...

Targeting young girls is a sure way at preventing violence against women and equipping girls with tools needed to tackle if it does happen. We live in a society where girls are taught to " bear" whatever happens to them, to accept that violence against them is permissible for certain reasons like disobedience to authority of their husbands or instituted authority and that rape is sometimes punishment for promiscuity. We can only hope to change this trend by re-orientating the minds of young girls to understand their rights, conflict resolution techniques and the fact that they have legal recourses against any kind of violence against them.