BAOBAB for Women’s Rights, an advocacy Group, has organized a sensitisation walk against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) to mark the 16 Days of activism.
The walk, which was held at the Lagos State University (LASU), was also an avenue to call for men to join the campaign to end GBV against women and girls.
The Lagos State Coordinator of BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights, Dr. Olaoni Buraimoh, an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Arts, Department of English Language, said the walk was to create awareness for the students who may be going through any form of abuse and do not know what to do and who to turn to.
According to her, the walk also entails “educating and sensitising the men and male child to their obligation of standing up and protecting the women against Gender-based violence.
Dr Buraimoh further said, “For emphasis, this walk is to educate and sensitise our men and boys to know that they have a responsibility to support this agenda because women’s rights are human rights.
“In essence, we are promoting Positive Masculinity. We don’t want violence and bullying against women. We want positive men who can stand up for women, girls, and even for themselves,” she added.
The associate professor also introspected into the public perception of the causes and effects of all domestic violence and the necessity for equitable treatment of all survivors with kindness.
“By this campaign, we are not saying that the fight is for the women alone. What we are saying is a shared responsibility, co-creation and constructions of ideas, co-responsibilities, and co-decisionmaking. We know that in the power dynamics statistics, the male gender is more than the female gender. Factually, in all spheres of life and especially in academics, you will see that there is an unequal power relation between female academics and male academics.
“So, if the power is shared into projecting positive values, it would be the best. We are not saying we want all the positions, but that this idea of Gender-based violence, let us project it together.
“We are not saying women are the only victims involved in Gender-based violence. We are simply saying one woman against one woman is actually against all women. Ditto for the men. If a male is harassed, let’s talk about it together, the same for a woman or a girl child. Let’s collaborate to fight this scourge. We want a joint partnership with the men on this campaign,” she added.