To increase awareness on the impact of Gender Based Violence (GBV), Safe Space Initiative and ActionAid Nigeria in partnership with the embassy of Brazil, have floated a stage play campaign against negative gender norms tagged, ‘Mirror Mirror’.
Speaking at the official launch of the play in Abuja, Executive Director of Safe Space Initiative, Tosin Akinbode-Osho, said the ‘Mirror Mirror’ stage play is a campaign that speaks to the impact of negative gender norms that promote GBV.
She said: “For us at Safe Space Initiative, this is a community advocacy and storytelling tool that we seek to take to different states of the nation to address GBV from the grassroots in our communities. The stage play is about two middle-aged couples and how they grew up mirroring norms in society including negative gender norms.
“We are going to take the ‘Mirror Mirror’ stage play to all the 36 states of the federation. Currently, this is our fourth time showing it in Abuja and we seek to take it to other states in the coming quarter.”
Speaking on the impact the stage play would have on its target audience, Project Coordinator, Women’s Voices and Leadership, ActionAid Nigeria, Niri Goyit, said her agency works to reduce and eradicate gender inequality by working with people living in poverty, especially women and girls.
“ActionAid works to reduce gender inequality and we do a lot of work with local women’s rights organisations, networks and movements to ensure that we are reaching out to different issues around women and girls so we are proud partners with the Safe Space Initiative,” she said.
Executive Producer of the play, Osasu Edobor, said the play showcases how gender norms could be a propagating factor for gender violence.
Charged’Affairs, Brazilian embassy in Nigeria, João Marcelo-Soares, pointed out that GBV is a universal problem that comes from inequality between men and women.
According to him, “GBV is above all a question of justice; we all have very fundamental roles to play as this does not only affect the economy but all aspects of our lives.”
