A non-governmental organisation, Women Support Women For Human Empowerment and Mentorship Initiative (WOSUWO), has decried the high spate of rights abuse and other degrading treatments meted against women.
Addressing journalists in Enugu, weekend, the Executive Director of WOSUWO, Ambassador Onyinye Joy Mamah observed that violence against women and other sorts of inhuman treatment had gone astronomically high in recent times.
She maintained that if all the concerned stakeholders kept mum, it would become a norm and would be generally acceptable.
Mamah said, “We are women and we have decided to lend our voices to the menace that has suddenly trickled into the society. We want to lend our voices because we don’t want this to suddenly become a norm and people will let it thrive.
“You see, inequality and poor acceptance of women’s rights as has been entrenched in the society, truncates the natural order of social justice”.
Making reference to the Ibom Air saga which saw to the stripping of a female passenger, Comfort Emmerson naked and the emotional trauma on the victim, which according to her, would last forever in her (victim’s) heart, Mamah said: “Recently we saw a woman being stripped naked in one of the airlines that operate in Nigeria.
“The society will agree with me that the pictures and videos will keep traveling through time and space”.
Blaming men for being responsible for the violations, she recalled that, “I saw three men push her in that airline and tried to push her down from the aircraft. Whatever that might have caused such treacherous and offensive activity to have occurred against a woman is unacceptable.”
She also made reference to the Anambra saga involving a serving corps member in the state and the State’s security group code named “Agunechemba” where the corps member was severely beaten and stripped naked.
“To worsen the event, a couple of days ago in Anambra, we saw a group of people that called themselves Agunechemba, a vigilante security outfit.
“Now this security outfit is supposed to not just promote but entrench the right order in fighting for security and protection of lives.
“Security is not just making sure they are not shot or killed, security is also making sure that their rights are properly harnessed.
“To the utmost dismay of everybody that watched that video, these men beat this lady so badly, tore up her clothes and she went naked again on the live video. And you could wonder who was videoing this, was it deliberately done to start belittling women or was that video doctored to promote that women can be beaten and stripped naked at any time any day?”
Praising the quick action taken by the Soludo-led administration in the case, Mamah said, “I like the just cause that the government of Anambra state has taken to make sure they fight for absolute justice in that case”.
Making firm the stand of women, especially the WOSUWO family on this ravaging menace, Mamah said, “But we as women of Enugu State, we as women of Nigeria, WOSUWO women, Heroine Women Foundation and other women organisations across the country are raising our voices to say that a woman should be treated carefully.
“If I must say, the body of a woman is almost sacred. I remember those days when we were young, a boy and a girl would have a chaos and the boy would want to beat the girl, other boys around will tell the guy that there is no space in a woman’s body and that means that a woman’s body is almost like a sanctuary and you are not supposed to beat up a woman.
“But these days, you see men doing this happily”.
Decrying the growing trend of domestic violence, she said: “Yesterday I woke up with phone calls from married women sending me pictures of how badly they were badly beaten by their husbands.
“And I am imagining, which men or what men would beat women so badly that they cannot even face their fellow men like that?
“We are crying out now, we are saying before it becomes a norm, before all of us get beaten, before our daughters get beaten, before our children we sent to school get beaten, before they start beating women in the markets or even on the roads or churches, we are raising our voices to say, women must be treated with caution, care and concern.
“The society must come out to shout vehemently against the manner and the way women are being treated both at home and the work places”.
On what laws that are in place to protect the rights of women, Mamah maintained that there are various laws enough to protect the rights of women but decried that where the issues lie are in the implementation of those laws and undue delay of court cases involving the violation of rights of women such as rape.
She urged the judiciary to fast-track cases before the courts and dispense justice appropriately and timely.
