Stakeholders and gender-rights advocates have intensified calls for the National Assembly to pass legislation guaranteeing reserved seats for women, warning that rising levels of violence against women are a direct consequence of their exclusion from political leadership.

They noted that 36 per cent of married women in Nigeria are survivors of intimate partner violence, while 96 per cent of women aged 15 to 49 have experienced some form of physical or sexual violence.

The stakeholders spoke at the Women of Words (WOW) 2025 – All Creatives Hub organised by Gender Strategy Advancement International (GSAI) in Abuja, under the theme “Unreserved for Reserved Seats: The Role of Women in Policymaking Towards Ending GBV.”

The event coincides with preparations by federal lawmakers to deliberate on the Reserved Seats for Women Bill (HB1349)—a milestone proposal aimed at increasing women’s political representation and strengthening institutional responses to gender-based violence (GBV).

Executive Director of GSAI, Adaora Sydney-Jack, said the alarming rate of intimate partner abuse in the country underscores the urgency of political reforms that give women equal access to decision-making.
She said: “Women are not lacking in competence. We have millions of women with courage, with capacity. We are lacking in space. While 2025 is another step in the long journey, a journey rooted in resilience and unshakable hope. Every day, 96 per cent of Nigerian women aged between 15 and 49 have experienced physical or sexual violence”.

Adaora said 36 per cent of married women are survivors of intimate partner violence, adding that for every woman who speaks, thousands of others swallow their pain in silence.
She said gender-based violence is not random, not accidental, but systemic.

“It thrives where women’s voices are weak, where representation is thin, where policies are blind to the realities women live every day. And so, this is why for all of us working the journey, advocating for the special seats, the reserve seats for women’s bill is not a political proposal, it is a lifeline.
“It is a bridge. It’s a restructuring of power, a possibility that proclaims that women’s voices are not to be added as afterthoughts but are to be positioned as architects of governance. Reserve seats are not favours.

“They are correcting measures to centuries of exclusion. They offer what every society must give its daughters: a chance not to be seen as beneficiaries, but as leaders. So, with reserve seats, we’re not asking for space”, she stated.

Sydney-Jack, who recounted her personal experience contesting for office, said Nigeria cannot continue writing a national narrative that excludes half of its population from the rooms where policies are shaped.
Chairman of Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa (PAACA) and board chairman of GSAI, Ezenwa Nwagwu, said cultural and structural barriers have made Nigerian politics largely exclusionary, shutting women out of mainstream participation.

He stressed that the campaign for gender inclusion must evolve into a sustained, nationwide movement capable of reshaping political culture.
According to him, GSAI’s deployment of storytelling, creative expression and youth engagement offers a critical pathway to pushing the conversation beyond advocacy into systemic change.

Other speakers included the Executive Secretary of the National Assembly Library Trust Fund, Henry Nwanwuba; representatives of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu; officials of the British High Commission; the Nigerian Navy; and civil society leaders.