Teenage network says 75% of Nigeria men believe in GBV

… Canvases male involvement to end GBV in communities

From Teenage Network, a body working to end all forms of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Nigeria, came a revelation that 75 percent of community men believed gender-based violence is normal and sees it as an effective way to display authority as a man.

Teenage Network Executive Director, Olanike Timipa-Uge made this observation, Thursday in Abuja at the public unveiling of the
Male Peer Education Resource Toolkit was developed by the body in partnership with Action Aid Nigeria.

Noting that, sixty-five percent of adolescent girls wouldn’t report cases of gender-based violence, she regretted that a significant number of community women would marry out their abused daughter to their abusers as a way of punishment.

According to Timipa-Uge, Teenage Network has also observed the need to break the culture of silence among adolescent girls, and allay the fears of community women by motivating them to seek legal redress for cases of gender-based violence.

The Director noted that the body further identified breast ironing as another harmful socio-cultural norm widely practised in its project communities, adding that, one in three adolescent girls in these communities has experienced breast ironing.

According to her, advocacy alone will yield little result as long as community men see perpetrating gender-based violence as a way of establishing their masculinity.

She went on: “Telling women and girls to say “No to rape” hasn’t brought the desired change that we seek. Rather reinforcing positive masculinity will bring a lot more change.

“Teenage Network is adopting the regular beer parlour discussion and influence model to drive a change in the perception of men about gender-based violence. We are leveraging strategic locations such as the Football viewing centres and men’s fellowship to drive this change.

“The male peer education resource toolkit was developed as a guide for every male champion who desires to eliminate violence against women and girls within their homes and communities.

“We are already making significant progress in working with men through this resource toolkit. We have had a community man shared with his peers how truly he found out that his children resent him whenever he hits his wife.

“And telling them violence really doesn’t mean we are commanding respect, indeed men can be loved and highly respected without being violent.

“Another participant after attending the session on chores distribution within the home gave feedback on how participating in house chores has helped increase his family income because the wife was more productive at work.”

Also speaking, ActionAid Head of Programs, Nkechi Ilochi-Kanny on her part, stressed the need for strategic male involvement to end gender-based violence. Saying: “If there is no cause, there is no effect! Working with men to change harmful masculinity is addressing the root cause of gender-based violence.”

She added: “If violence becomes less fashionable and marketable, then a great deal of gender-based violence would be avoided. We believe there is a need to reach more men, therefore, we call on development partners and the government to adopt this resource toolkit to drive change in our respective communities.”