Throughout the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, Equipop interviews its partners about their actions to combat gender-based violence.
Activist Halimatou Zika Sombeize is president of the Niger Young Women Leaders Unit, created by young women to promote education for girls and women, leadership, and female entrepreneurship.
Could you share with us the current challenges related to gender-based violence (GBV) in Niger?
In Niger, the first step is to ensure that women are aware of and understand their rights. Many women are abused in their own homes. For some, this is normal, as they believe that, as Muslim women, they must be submissive. They accept it if their husbands abuse them for any minor mistake they may have made. Sometimes, even when they are physically injured, they find it difficult to file a complaint. When a woman does manage to do so, either society will discourage her until she withdraws her complaint, or her husband will threaten to divorce her, and she will withdraw her complaint to protect her children. Ensuring that these women realize they have the right not to be beaten or abused is a challenge. We must make women aware that they have the right to file a complaint and be defended by the competent authorities.
Another issue concerning gender-based violence in Niger is at the political level. It is essential to ensure that such violence is effectively punished by law. There must be a law prohibiting all forms of violence against women, and it must be enforced.
Could you give us an example of an action you are taking to address this?
One of my key activities this year in the fight against GBV is my involvement in the Circles of Influence project, implemented with the support of Equipop and the Equality Fund. This project involves creating discussion circles between young girls, young women, and experts in sexual and reproductive health, education, leadership, and women's empowerment. The aim is to enable girls to discuss the problems they may encounter as young girls or young women and to inform them about their rights. It is surprising to see how little young girls know about their own bodies and rights.
In these discussions, we address the issue of sexual harassment, which is very prevalent in schools and workplaces. We talk about the different forms of violence and the ways and means available to them to report teachers or classmates who harass them. Many young women and girls who have experienced harassment do not talk about it to their parents, teachers, or principals because of our sociocultural realities. Creating these circles of influence among girls—dios to dios—allows them to express themselves openly.
What message would you like to convey to young girls in Niger during these 16 days of activism against violence against women and girls?
Young girls must realize that no one has the right to lay a hand on them or abuse them physically, morally, or psychologically. They have the right to flourish without stigma and without verbal or physical violence. As girls, they have the right to be intellectuals, to access all health services, to study, and to flourish!
