By Rabi Ummi Umar*
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!There was a post on ‘X’ (formerly known as Twitter) about a case of femicide. Kristina Joksimovic, a 38-year-old model and former Miss Switzerland finalist, was allegedly strangled, dismembered, and her remains put through a blender by her husband, Thomas (a pseudonym), with whom she had two children.
Away from far away Switzerland, in Nigeria, a viral case emerged around a month ago on TikTok, Twitter, and other social media platforms, as well as in traditional media outlets. The case concerned a girl named Christiana Idowu, a 300-level student of the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ogun State,who was allegedly killed by her friend, a fellow church member.
The emergence of this sad news, like every other topic in Nigeria, sparked a multitude of opinions. Her case on ‘X’ ignited a disturbing trend and what could be termed a gender war, with women being the focal point.
It was utterly devastating because Christiana’s case is not an isolated incident. This has happened countless times – a thousand and one some would say. Both verified and unverified stories have emerged of women being murdered by their friends, lovers, colleagues, and many others. The question of how many more do we not hear and know of always lingers in my mind.
There have been numerous reports of women being killed by their lovers, leaving us to question, is love truly worth the risk? For, all too often, a visit to the one you love ends in tragedy, with the victim failing to return home alive.
This incident jolted my mind back to the case of the Indian doctor who was raped by several men at her workplace. This was her place of work, and it had nothing to do with what she was wearing, what she was doing, or whom she was with. These are often the defence mechanisms cited for such heinous acts – what was she wearing? Who was she with?
It is heartbreaking and wrenching to think that these are the thoughts that come to people’s minds when they hear of such unfortunate events, and yet they occur all too frequently.
Women now have their fair share of reasons why they do not trust men, and the evil acts and deeds of which men are capable, they do not feel safe anywhere. It is truly baffling to think that women are not safe – not in church, not at work, not even at a friend’s place and not even in their own homes.
The irony is that men still take offence when women express their inability to trust them, or attempt to raise their concerns, in light of the alarming rate of femicide.
According to the United Nations (UN) Women, 1 in 3 women globally (736 million) have been subjected to physical and or sexual violence at least once in their lifetime since the age of 15. Unfortunately, women face numerous forms of violence, including domestic abuse, sexual assault, and honour killings.
These acts are frequently perpetrated with impunity, perpetuating a widespread culture of gender inequality and entrenching the normalization of violence against women.
A United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) 2020 Research states that Globally 81,000 women and girls were killed in 2020, around 47,000 of them (58 per cent) died at the hands of an intimate partner or a family member, which equals to a woman or girl being killed every 11 minutes in their home.
Sadly, these things happen and are discussed for just a few days in environmen like ours. No one says anything until the next incident occurs. This is the time to shed light on the issue of femicide, especially in Nigeria!
Several questions troubling questions need to be asked, what could women possibly have done to warrant such treatment? Why is there a daily onslaught of violence against women by men? And, most pressing of all, are women safe at all? How can this be corrected?
This needs to be halted immediately. The government needs to address this issue and take swift action. A regulatory framework should be established to punish offenders and ensure they are held accountable. Perhaps this would deter others from committing such crimes. The fact that little to no action is taken, or that offenders are often released after arrest, is why this violence persists.
It is also high time the National Orientation Agency (NOA) stepped in. Their agents need to be deployed to educate the general public about this heinous act. At an individual level, we need to speak out, and religious organisations also have a crucial role to play. We all have a role to play.
Women are human beings, deserving of safety and the right to live. Stop killing women! Stop the femicide!
*Rabi Ummi Umar is an intern at Naija247news and a student of Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin. She can be reached via rabiumar058@gmail.com
