Nigerian journalist, Adebola Aduwo, explores the theme of this years’ 16 Days of Activism campaign - #HearMeToo – by talking to women in Lagos about their experiences of gender-based violence.

For over 26 years, the 16 Days of Activism campaign has been a solid avenue for women to speak up about all forms of gender-based violence and advocate for victims of sexual abuse. It began in 1991 at the Women’s Global Leadership Institute. This campaign spans across the 25th of November to the 10th of December every year.

In the past months, there has been a welcoming outrage, mostly on social media, exhuming skeletons and bringing to light some of these issues that have been swept under the rug for far too long (well done, guys). I believe this inspired the theme for this year, ‘Hear Me Too’.

In light of this, I created a questionnaire, giving a number of Nigerian women the opportunity to share their real-life experiences and these are some of the things they had to say:

*Please note that this content contains sensitive and potentially triggering material about abuse and sexual violence.*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Worldwide, 1 in 3 women will experience sexual and/or physical violence in their lifetime. Join the campaign to end violence against women by using the hashtag #16daysofactivism and #HearMeToo. If you would like to share your story with us, get in touch on info@mtvshuga.com

 

You can read the follow-up to this article here.

If you need to talk to someone or need support for any of these areas, please click here.