Posts tagged gender-based violence

In the illustration Chinue Igwe, a biracial Nigerian-American lesbian woman discusses the complexities of coming out the closet. The illustration depicts the prevalent conservative social, cultural and religious attitudes, which are normally used in society as the basis to dismiss homosexuality as a sin or reprehensible behaviour.

“He did it in a classroom, the staff room and in his house”.

12-year-old Mary and 13-year-old Mercy (not their real names) were sexually abused by a deputy head teacher on numerous occasions and on diverse dates. He assaulted them in different places in and around their school. During the investigation, it also emerged that the teacher had been transferred from another school due to committing the same violations. He was a serial rapist. Period.

A segment aired on Moroccan state TV channel showing women how to cover bruises from domestic violence with make-up has raised the ire of social media, strongly criticised for sanitising the abuse of women. A campaign “Don’t cover domestic violence with makeup” is gathering steam, and petitioners are calling on broadcasting authorities to take action against the channel.

Women deserve 360 degrees of recognition all year long. As honourable as Women’s Month is, women never get a day off from womaning, therefore universal acknowledgement is due to them all the time, without pause.

Jade Gibson opens up about the process of writing her debut novel, Glowfly Dance, a lyrical and poignant tale of domestic abuse and family trauma based on real-life events.

It never rains but it pours for embattled Congolese Rumba maestro Koffi Olomide, who was deported from Kenya last week for physically assaulting one of his dancers at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, in a video which caused a major uproar. Zambia has banned Olomide from performing at the upcoming Agricultural and Commercial Show, before the dust has even settled after his deportation, a decision which has been widely applauded on social media.

Writer Enajite Efemuaye spends time talking to two girls who have been placed in a shelter for survivors of sexual violence in Lagos, Nigeria, and finds hope springing in the most unlikeliest of places.

With Oscar Pistorius sentenced and behind bars, we wonder how much justice was really dispensed, given the short period he will serve, his skin colour and his gender? The current round of sentences being dispensed to white men seems to show that Lady Justice is not quite as colour-blind as she may think she is.

Samantha Hargreaves, director at WoMin, took some time out to speak about the need to build the voice of women affected by mining operations.

A UN report has exposed disturbing findings through testimonies of victims of rape in the conflict in South Sudan perpetrated by both government forces and rebels. The government has been accused of using rape as an instrument of terror and weapon of war. More than 1,300 reports of rape were recorded in just one state within five months.