WARIF raises awareness on rape, sexual violence

Women at Risk International Foundation launched the No Tolerance Campaign last year to address the prevalence of violence against girls and women in communities across Nigeria. Nigeria responded and our citizens across the country stood with WARIF to say “No Tolerance” to rape and sexual violence and the digital campaign reached an estimate of 10 million people on social media.

Following the on-going success of the campaign and the dire need for more awareness on issues of sexual violence, over the annual 16 Days of Activism to highlight gender based violence globally, the maiden edition of the No Tolerance March was carried out in December 2019. This march brought together over 700 men and women, young and all from all works of life who walked 3km across the Lekki/Ikoyi link bridge saying No Tolerance to the issue of sexual violence.
 
This year, following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the #WARIFNoTolerance March has gone online! Participants, friends, survivors and supporters of WARIF are encouraged to wear their No Tolerance T-shirts and march, jog, walk or run -at home, on the bridge or in the streets to raise awareness to sexual violence. Nigerian Influencers like Kate Henshaw, Temi Otedola, Rita Dominic, RMD, Chioma Akpotha, Chigul and many others have also joined the organization to take a stand against rape and sexual violence this year.

Participants are encouraged to show that they are part of the march and stay connected by sharing and posting their pictures and videos on social media with the hashtag #WARIFNoTolerance and by tagging @WARIF_NG

Speaking on the importance of the march, Founder of WARIF, Dr. Kemi DaSilva-Ibru stated that: “the rise of the covid-19 pandemic brought about a shadow pandemic evidenced by a spike in the rate of sexual and domestic violence cases as survivors were forced to quarantine with their abusers.

This increases the urgency of ensuring essential serviced are made available offered free of charge by the organization and why it is imperative that WARIF continues to raise awareness to the prevalence of this menace . We are calling on everyone to join us again this year by wearing their t-shirts and saying no tolerance to this national crisis”