#BringBackOurGirls Denounces Renewed Abductions of Women by Boko Haram; Calls on the Nigerian Government to Rescue Dozens of Nigerian Women and Girls Abducted in Malaharam in Biu Local Government Area

July 8, 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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#BringBackOurGirls Denounces Renewed Abductions of Women by Boko Haram; Calls on the Nigerian Government to Rescue Dozens of Nigerian Women and Girls Abducted in Malaharam in Biu Local Government Area

#BringBackOurGirls and Nigerian women’s groups in solidarity call upon the Nigerian government to rescue all of Nigeria's women and girls abducted by Boko Haram and reunite them with their families. We denounce the renewed spate of abductions by Boko Haram is in response to the recently reported abductions of women and girls from Malaharam in the Biu Local Government Area of Borno State on Friday, June 26, 2020.

#BringBackOurGirls emphasizes that this and previous abductions constitute a failure of governance by the Nigerian government, which has the primary responsibility and should take the lead in bringing back our girls and women.

The lack of human security is an urgent and ongoing problem in Nigeria. The Nigerian government should harness the skills, experience and knowledge base of Nigerians at home and abroad to take back our country from vicious insurgents who have menaced our fellow citizens and brutalized them for far too long. Besides rescuing all our abducted girls and women, a comprehensive political, economic and social set of strategies must be devised to bring peace and security to the embattled populations in the northeast and other parts of the country, and to reduce the alarming increase in gender-based violence. 

#BringBackOurGirls emphasizes that Article 14 of the Nigerian Constitution (as amended) states that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”. The Nigerian government should uphold the constitution and live up to its promise. It must demonstrate that it takes its constitutional responsibilities seriously. It must clearly show that it guarantees the human security of all its citizens.  

We demand that the Nigerian government should ensure all Nigerians and the world at large that human security is a right of all our citizens, and it will guarantee them safe, meaningful, and enduring peace and security, as well as freedom from fear of abduction, all over the country.

We reiterate this urgent call upon the Federal Government of Nigeria to rescue all our abducted girls and women NOW!

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria!

About #BringBackOurGirls

#BringBackOurGirls is a coalition of Nigerians united to advocate for the rescue of our #ChibokGirls and all other abducted Nigerian women and girls.

Signed by:

Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi

Aisha Oyebode

Aisha Yesufu

Ayo Obe

Babasola Olalere

Deji Kolawole

Evon Idahosa

F.T. Adebayo

Florence Ozor

Gapani Yanga

Habiba Balogun

Jonathan Okanlawon

Maureen Kabri

Mojúbàolú Olufúnké Okome

Monday Ojon

Ngozi Iwere

Nifemi Onifade

Oby Ezekwesili

Yahi Bwata

‘Yemi Adamolekun

Yemisi Ransome-Kuti

For Abuja, Lagos & New York BBOG Families

Endorsed by

1.        Abiodun Essiet Initiative for Girls

2.       Above Whispers Foundation

3.       ACTS Generation GBV

4.       ADEM Community & Human Development Foundation

5.       Adinya Arise Foundation (AAF)

6.       Advocate For Health And Development Initiative

7.        African Women’s Initiative (AWI)

8.       Ajegunle Community Project

9.       Alliances For Africa (Afa)

10.     Aminchi Women Cooperative Society

11.      Arise Nigerian Woman Foundation.

12.     ATATA Development And Empowerment Foundation (ADEF)

13.     Briskila Emefesi Women Foundation (BEWOF)

14.    Cece Yara Foundation

15.     CEE-HOPE Nigeria

16.     Center For Economic Empowerment And Gender Activities (CEEGA)

17.     Centre For Alternative Development And Self-Enhancement (CEADESE NG)

18.     Centre For Health And Development In Africa(CHEDA)

19.     Centre For Nonviolence And Gender Advocacy In Nigeria (CENGAIN)

20.   Centre For Peace Education And Community Development

21.     Centre For Women’s Health And Information (CEWHIN)

22.   Change Managers International Network

23.    Charity Women Spring Of Salvation

24.   Chedal Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society

25.    Choung-Dung Women Association.

26.   Christian Women For Excellence And Empowerment In Nigerian Society (CWEENS)

27.    Christian Women In Nigerian Politics

28.    Citizens Center for Integrated Development and Social Rights (CCIDESOR)

29.   Community And Youth Development

30.    Community Education Advancement Of Peace And Development Initiative (CEAPDI)

31.     Community Initiative For Healthy And Peaceful Society

32.    Community Life Project (CLP)

33.    Community Rescue Initiative (CRI)

34.   Community Women Initiatives

35.    Courageous People Health And Development Initiative (CPHDL)

36.    Development In Practice Gender And Entrepreneurial Initiative (DIPGEI)

37.    Dinidari Foundation

38.    Dorothy Njemanze Foundation

39.    Dream Alive Women And Orphans Support Foundation (DAWOS Foundation)

40.   Echoes Of Women In Africa Initiatives

41.    Education As A Vaccine (EVA)

42.   Emerge Women

43.   Empowerment And Action Research Centre

44.   Equality Through Education Foundation ( ETEF)

45.   Equity Advocates (EA)

46.   Equity Advocates/ The Woman Today Newspaper

47.    FAME Foundation

48.   Federation Of Informal Workers Of Nigeria (FIWON)

49.   Federation Of Muslim Women Association In Nigeria (FOMWAN)

50.   Federation Of Paralegal Network (FEDPAN)

51.     Federation Of Women Lawyers (FIDA)

52.    Fembridge Development Initiative (FEDI)

53.    First Future Leadership

54.   Forward In Action For Education, Poverty And Malnutrition (FACE-PAM)

55.    Gender Action Awareness Trust

56.    Gender And Constitution Reform Network (GECORN)

57.    Gender And Development Action (GADA)

58.    Gender And Environmental Risk Reduction Initiative(GERI)

59.    Gender Awareness Trust (GAT)

60.   Gender Development Initiative

61.     Gender Equality Center

62.   Gender Equality, Peace And Development Centre

63.    Gender Technical Unit (GTU)

64.   Girl Child Advocacy And Education Initiatives

65.    Girl Child Africa

66.   Girl Child Education, Care & Rehabilitation

67.    Girl Education Rehabilitation And Care (GERAC)

68.    Green Spring Development Initiative

69.   Hadis Foundation

70.    Heal Disability Initiative

71.     Health Reform Foundation Of Nigeria(HERFON)

72.    HEIR Women Development

73.    Hope For New Life

74.    Inter Africa Committee (IAC)

75.    Inter Gender Peace Foundation

76.    International Action Network On Small Arms Women Network Of Nigeria

77.    International Hairstylists, Barber And Body Therapists (IHSTOBAN)

78.    International Society Of Media In Public Health (ISMPH)

79.    Iyaniwura Children Care Foundation

80.   Jamatul Nasir Islam, Women Wing

81.     Jana Health Foundation

82.    Justice Development And Peace Commission (JDPC)

83.    Justice Development And Peace Mission (JDPM)

84.   K/Mashi Gamji Women

85.    Kebetkache Women Development And Resources Centre

86.    Kimpact Initiatives

87.    Kudirat Initiative For Democracy (KIND)

88.    League Of Queens International Empowerment

89.    Legal Defense and Assistance Project (LEDAP)

90.   Lift Initiative

91.     MBULA Women Association

92.   Media & Teens Network.

93.    Media Concern Initiative

94.   More Women In Politics

95.    Nasrul – Lahi-L- Faith Society (NASFAT)

96.   National Association Of Women Journalist (NAWOJ)

97.    National Council Of Women Societies (NCWS)

98.    Network Of Reproductive Health Journalists Of Nigeria, NRHJN

99.   Next Initiative For Gender Actions (NIGA)

100. NGAS Women Farmers’ Cooperative Society

101.  Nigeria Association Of Women Journalist (NAWOJ)

102. Nigeria Labour Congress, Women Committee

103. Nigeria Union Of Teachers (NUT)

104. Nigerian Women Politics Forum

105. Nigerian Women Trust Fund (NTWF)

106. Ogayem Merciful Care And Support Initiatives (OMCSI)

107. Ogun Women Alive

108. Onomese Foundation

109. Osi Joe Touching Lives Initiative

110.  Ovie Brume Future Leadership Development

111.   Partners West Africa

112.  Peasant Dragnet

113.  Proactive Gender Initiative (PGI)

114.  Project Alert On Violence Against Women

115.  Ray's Of Hope Community Foundation

116.  Relief Development Initiative Kaduna

117.   Responsible Citizenship and Human Development Initiative

118.  She Forum Africa

119.  Shout Global Health

120. South- South Professional Women Association.

121.  Stand to End Rape (STER)

122. Stephanie Peace Building Development Foundation

123. Support For Needy Children And Women Initiative(SUNCHI)

124. SWOFON National Abuja

125. The Inclusion Project (TIP)

126. The Priceless Jewels Foundation

127. Transformation And Development Center (TDC)

128. Transition Monitoring Group

129. Tunde & Friends Foundation(TAFF)

130. UC Women Commission

131.  Vision Spring Initiatives (VSI)

132. Voice Of Ogun Women (VOW)

133.  West African Network For Peace Building (WANEP)

134. Widows Development Organization (WIDO)

135. Woman-Being Concern Nigeria

136. Women & Youth Awareness Empowerment Network (WOYAEN)

137.  Women Advocacy, HIV Prevention And Other Diseases (WAHPOD)

138. Women Advocates Research And Documentation Center (WARDC)

139. Women Aid Collectives (WACOL)

140. Women And Youth Empowerment For Advancement And Health Initiative (WYEAHI)

141.  Women Consortium Of Nigeria (WOCON)

142. Women Empowerment And Initiative Development

143. Women Empowerment and Reproductive Health Centre (WERHC)

144.Women Farmers Alliance

145. Women For Peace And Gender Equality  Initiative  (WOPEGEE)

146. Women For Peace And Gender Equality Initiative

147. Women Foundation Initiative

148. Women Foundation Of Nigeria (WFN)

149. Women In Africa Initiative

150. Women In Agriculture

151.  Women In Mining

152. Women Information Network (WINET)

153. Women Initiative For Democracy And Empowerment (WIDE)

154. Women Law and Development Initiative(WOLDI)

155. Women Law Development Center Of Nigeria (WLDCN)

156. Women League For Peace And Freedom (WILPF)

157. Women Of Vision Development Initiative

158. Women Protection Organization (WOPO)

159. WOMEN RADIO 91.7

160. Women Wing Of The Christian Association Of Nigeria (WOWICAN)

161.  Women, Infants And Children Care Initiative (WICCI)

162. Women’s Rights And Health Project (WRAHP)

163. Women's Right To Education Programme (WREP)

164. Youth Future Savers Initiative

GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE IS A WORLDWIDE PHENOMENON

GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE IS A WORLDWIDE PHENOMENON

Tania Darbouze

Political Science Program (B.A. Candidate)

Brooklyn College, CUNY

In the Spring 2020 semester, I had the opportunity to conduct research alongside Mojúbàolú Olufúnké Okome, who co-founded #BringBackOurGirlsNYC. This research focused on the abduction of the 276 schoolgirls in Chibok, Nigeria. The goals for my research project include tracking any global response to the situation from NGOs, political figures, the media, governmental organizations, and global powers, identify factors in the political climate of Northern Nigeria that cause these types of attacks, and to educate myself, and others. 

On April 14th-15th 2014, 276 schoolgirls were abducted from their school dormitory in the middle of the night by Boko Haram. The girls who were from local villages were attending the secondary government school and stayed in the dormitories in preparation for important school exams. Boko Haram raided Chibok village and set fire to the school, kidnapping the girls. Although some girls were able to escape that same night, the majority were held captive. Boko Haram targeted the girls’ dormitories in opposition to western education, and in retaliation towards the Nigerian government. These young women were taken from their school, families, and villages and abused, as well as tortured by the hands of Boko Haram. The girls were forcefully converted to Islam, compelled to become bush wives and used as unpaid servants. Boko Haram’s patriarchal ideology, warped interpretation of Islam, and rigid cultural beliefs led to their decision to remove these girls from the influence of western education. They also raped and forced them into motherhood and domestic servitude. 

This abduction was only a part of the growing attacks by Boko Haram. Since the rise of Boko Haram, the Nigerian government has been in conflict with the insurgent group. This conflict has destroyed the peace and shaken the stability in Northeastern Nigeria. Most vulnerable to this conflict are the poor people, particularly the women and children of Northern Nigeria who have been abducted, brutally raped and/or mutilated, displaced, and victims to constant threats of violence. Women, and young girls especially, have been left at the mercy of brutal, exploitative insurgents and paradoxically, the members of the Nigerian armed forces who should protect them also prey on them. 

As I delved deeper into my research, I discovered that violence against women and children in Nigeria wasn’t an isolated issue, but a common trend worldwide. The research into the plight of the Chibok girls served as a launchpad to expand my research into the subject of the relationship between girls in conflict and sexualized violence. All over the world, from the beginning of time, women and children have been used as tactical tools of war and abused sexually, physically, and psychologically in the most brutal ways. Similar to the situation in Northern Nigeria, women in other countries endured abuse either at the hands of insurgent groups or their own government in times of war. Some of the instances I followed include rape in Sierra Leone and The Democratic Republic of Congo and rape camps in Bosnia, and missing black girls in the U.S., as well as high murder rates of Native American women in the U.S., and Canada.

First, I turn to the rape of Bosnian women.

In the 1990s, Bosnia, which was part of the former Yugoslavia at the time, was embroiled in political tension, war, and frequent constitutional changes. Minority ethnic groups were subjected to totalitarian rule by the Bosnian Serbs and the Yugoslav People’s Army. The struggle for power and political dominance led to a large-scale massacre and rape of the opposing ethnic group of Bosnian Muslims. Bosnian Muslim women of all ages were the most targeted during these times. They had their husbands, brothers, and sons stripped from their homes, and they were abducted into rape camps by Bosnian Serb soldiers. These women were gang-raped repeatedly, held hostage, and forced to give birth to Serbian children as a means of ethnic cleansing and humiliation. They were also used as indentured servants. The Bosnian citizens were gaslighted for many years since the government claimed that the reports of these atrocities were propaganda and complete falsehoods. It wasn’t until years later the government finally admitted to the brutality these women endured and started reconciliation. 

Other conflicts researched include rape in Sierra Leone and the DRC. Both Sierra Leone and the DRC have experienced long years of war, insurgent violence, and colonial dominance that shifted the stability of their countries. In Sierra Leone during the eleven-year civil war in the 1990s women were killed at staggering rates then men and children.

After the war, the post-war instability resulted in 215-270,000 women having experienced sexualized violence. Rebels and soldiers went into neighborhoods and villages and terrorized the locals, making it a point to rape every woman and child in sight. Women were raped and mutilated in front of their families, in marketplaces, in the middle of the road, and even in their own homes. Many young girls were abducted and forced into becoming bush wives by commanding officers.

In the DRC, there was a similar situation.

Political tension, colonial dominance, war, and poverty played a huge factor in the sexualized violence women face. The DRC is nicknamed the “Rape Capital of the World” where four women are raped every five minutes. Women in the DRC are being raped by soldiers and rebels. They are subjected to public humiliation and shunning of having a rape child or a child out of wedlock. Women in both the DRC and Sierra Leone have also been victims of sexual exploitation, where they have transactional sex with men in power for the basic resources they need such as food, medicine, security, or a place to stay in order to not be targeted by other groups of men. 

The conflict that directly affects the United States and was the main area of focus for this research project, concerns the thousands of missing Black women and girls that flew under the radar. There are currently over seventy-five thousand missing black women, and children in America, and not even a fraction of these missing people get media coverage. Many of these women and girls are missing, runaways, homeless, or abducted. Black women have a complex standing in a racist-patriarchal system, where they belong to minority/oppressed groups; and they face both sexism and racism. So, it is completely unsurprising that society ignores missing and potentially trafficked Black women and girls. The majority of these missing girls and women are also in poverty, and as such, finding them is not treated as a priority. Their families also face barriers of mistrust and lack of communication with the police force. This limits the efforts to locate their missing loved ones. Police just automatically categorize these women as runaways or drifters. They are most likely to fall into the web of human trafficking. Black women make up 40% of women victims of sex trafficking. Black women and girls who are in better economic standing and social classes do not escape sexualized violence that black women in poverty face. Research shows that sixty percent of black women will experience sexual assault before they turn eighteen.

Native American women in both the United States and Canada share the same fate as Black women. Like Black women, Native American women are largely marginalized and affected by sexism, racism, and poverty. Native women are the most numerous victims of sexual assault, physical abuse, and homicide in the U.S. and Canada. 4 in 5 American/Alaskan Indian girls and women have experienced sexualized violence in their lifetime. Native women who live in urban settings are more likely to experience sexual assault than those on reservations. In a 2010 study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 94 percent of American Indian and Alaskan Indian women have experienced sexual assault. Native women are targeted by intimate partners, family, and non-natives alike.

Marginalized women all over the world who are victims of sexualized violence and patriarchal aggression often experience erasure, and the invisibility, because their attacks are treated as though they didn’t happen. This invisibility is dangerous for these women because their attackers and predators who prey on their vulnerability and face no consequences, leaving these women without resources. They are also unable to leave their circumstances, and there is no accountability from the government, which allows them to be targeted. These women are also left without the resources they need, and treatment to help them recover after these traumatic events. They’re not given psychological treatment, therapy, medical care, or access to education or better job opportunities to help them escape their environments. My research shows that these different cases are very similar. Structural violence produces sexualized violence, negative gender stereotypes, and gender constructs about women's role in society, as well as the use of women’s bodies as weapons of war and intimidation. These events happen all over the world to women who fit into these categories: poor, women of color, or from marginalized ethnic groups. Such women receive little to no media attention. 

The world must pay attention to how women across the world are being abused and left behind. There must be real solutions. In cases like Bosnia, Sierra Leone, and DRC we need the United Nations to hold predatory regimes and governments that play a part in the destruction of these women’s lives, accountable. Sexualized violence during war should be treated as a war crime, and there should be punishment for perpetrators. The United Nations should also push for all member states to sign a treaty against the use of sexualized violence and genocide. The media should also do its part to expose what is happening to women across the world not only when it is trending, but because light needs to be shone one of the gravest atrocities. There also should be long-term psychosocial assistance for the recovery of women, and their children, including the provision of housing, therapy, medical care, education, and employment.