Let’s lift the veil on gender-based violence (GBV) in Niger with a committed Nigerien and a Nigerien.
They are often magnified by the most beautiful adjectives. Yet they suffer the worst horrors in the four corners and corners of the globe from these people for whom they devote themselves so much. These people who, following their logic of “superiority” are supposed to protect them. A woman or a girl continues to suffer every three minutes, at least one form of violence in the world. UN Women advances even more staggering numbers in the specific nature of the scourge and in its overall scope. This evening, I look at a particular point on the globe: Niger.
38% of Nigerien victims of violence
The Nigerian woman evokes the beauty and delicacy of the Sahelian. She is precious for her Nation and for her men (father, husband, brothers and sons). So much so that a special day has been institutionalized by presidential decree to celebrate it: the 13 May. With March 8, Nigeriens have not one but two days to reflect on and celebrate their status as women in their society and in the world. For good reason, some suffer deep bruises: more than 38% of Nigerien women were victims of gender-based violence in 2021, according to the Agence Nigerienne de Presse. As part of the 16 days of activism for the fight against GBV, we decided to lift the veil on the specificity of the violence suffered by these pearls of the desert.
READ ALSO: Aïcha Macky Kidy, the Amazon of Niger
A “scourge” mainly caused by economic reasons
Who would be more legitimate to talk about the violence suffered by Nigerien women than a Nigerian woman deeply committed to the cause? Her name is Aïcha Macky Kidy, a committed Nigerien director. Our discussion was also in the company of Abdoul-Rafik Gaïssa, a young Nigerian sensitive to the realities of his sisters and his mothers.
QUESTION 1 : What would make Nigerien women particularly vulnerable to the violence suffered by all women in the world? Is it really cultural?
ANSWER 1 : Gender-based violence in Niger can be summed up in three “urgent” forms: economic, physical and cultural violence. These mainly include early and forced marriage and its dramatic consequences. Nigerien girls are unfortunately the most exposed to this scourge.
QUESTION 2 : What are the causes ?
ANSWER 2: The main cause of this violence is primarily economic, followed by the cultural factor. In the case of early marriage, some parents face such a state of destitution that they prefer to give their little girls in marriage for a “dowry” in order to continue to support the rest of the family. For others, on the contrary, it is a means of sparing them pregnancies outside marriage or simply protecting them from prostitution.
QUESTION 3 : Aisha, you are the very revelation that the Nigerian woman, even with meager means, can be fully fulfilled without deviating from her culture or her religion. Why you and not them?
ANSWER 3 : Basic education, but above all the instruction and involvement of men. My mother [de Aïcha, NDLR] wanted me to succeed at all costs; my father, even more. Today, my husband supports me in everything I do.
QUESTION 4 : What could revolutionize wrestling?
ANSWER 4 : Education for all and the empowerment of women in respecting their family structures is the key to reducing Gender-Based Violence.
Men, essential for the eradication of GBV in Niger
I was able to conclude from this enriching discussion that gender-based violence in Niger takes many forms. They thus constitute an urgent problem whose resorption inevitably passes through the resolution of the economic factor.
Moreover, the meticulous analysis of the UNFPA report entitled ” Magnitudes and Determinants of GBV in Niger confirms that Nigerien society, like many around the world, is strongly patriarchal. The ascendancy of men over women is not a myth, except among nomadic peoples, notably the Tuaregs, where the opposite phenomenon is observed. Therefore, I realize that it would be a decoy to think of eradicating GBV in Niger without the help of men. It would not be a question of an injunction, but of a reminder to their common sense, to their humanity. Thus we are working on raising awareness and leaving the responsibility for repression to justice; Niger being, after all, a rule of law and signatories of the various charters guaranteeing human rights.
Education, the master key to combat
All women, especially Nigerian women, are capable of creating wonders out of very little. With the support of the men in their lives, they become extraordinary like Aïcha. I deduce that an autonomous woman does not mean a woman who does not need a man. It is for this reason that instruction, whether school or craft, is essential for a good understanding of the issue at all levels.
The Nigerien government and its international partners, including UNFPA and the Spotlight Initiative, are already taking strong action to clarify the picture of GBV in Niger. Men in general, and Nigeriens in particular, are in turn challenged for an effective fight. On this subject, I will make in my next post, the point of these “males” who shine masterfully in the defense of the rights of women throughout the world.
Woman + Man for a world without violence!
+ GBV in Niger according to Aïcha Macky in audiovisual
In Niger, poverty is associated with women.
Aïcha Macky Kidy, pour Initiative Spotlight #16DAYS2022
In order to better understand her emotion on the subject, I suggest you watch Aïcha Macky’s magnificent analysis of the violence suffered by some of her colleagues. But above all the essential conditions that it raises to overcome it.