Share Your Story with Us!

Hello everyone. Thanks for your support! If you are a rape survivor or if you know anyone who is, please share your/their story with us. We want to use your survival story to inspire others. We promise to be discreet if you need us to; we don't mind changing your name, location of incidence and other vital information. Please feel safe with us, we have your interest at heart always. Send your stories to ayodejiosowobi@gmail.com. We will be waiting to hear from you. 

Much love from all of us at Stand to End Rape/STER.

#Nigeria –– Alarming! Gombe Records 61 Rape Cases in 36 Months

The Programme Coordinator, Centre for Community Health and Development, Mrs Lucy Usein, said 61 rape cases had been recorded in Gombe State in the last three years.

Usein made this known at a news conference organised by a non-governmental organisation, Child Protection Network, in Gombe, on Tuesday.

She said 14 cases were reported to the organisation in 2011, 26 cases in 2012 and 21 cases so far in 2013.

“These are the only ones that are reported; there are many cases and because of fear of stigmatisation, parents do not like the matter to be treated in public,” she said.

#Nigeria Has a Rape Culture Too

Since I heard about the gang rape of a 23-year-old woman in Delhi,India has been on my mind. The woman was on her way home from the cinema with a male friend when they were attacked on a bus. Her injures were so severe the doctors had to remove parts of her intestine to stop the infection and try to save her life. Though she battled to stay alive, she died on 28 December. This incident has provoked a series of angry protests in Delhi and across India as men and women from various backgrounds, castes and religions hit the streets to demand safer living space for women. The fact that it is the first time in the history of India when people were out on the streets on the issue of gender signals an important paradigm shift on national discourse of sex, sexuality and rights of women.

The first time I read the story, I quickly shrugged it off to shield my consciousness from imagining what the victim went through. Yet, the savagery of the act, the use of a rusty metal rod to brutalise her insides, still haunts me. A lot has been written about this incident and anything worth saying has been said. However, I'm writing this in the Nigerian context and violation for the female body in mind. What would have happened if this incident happened in, say, Lagos or Abuja? Let me tell you what would happen. Nothing.

Rape: Muslim Lawyers in #Nigeria Raise Alarm

I'm glad we are not religion biased on this issue and we are all uniting to fight this menace –– rape –– in our society.

The Muslim Lawyers Association of Nigeria (MULAN) has expressed concern over the increasing wave of rape cases in Jigawa State, a situation the association said, needs to be tackled by authorities and other stakeholders.

The state chairman of the association, Gausu Ahmad, made the disclosure during a roundtable organized by the group at state secretariat, Dutse, recently.

He said at the moment, there were over 30 rape cases currently being prosecuted in courts throughout the state.

Gausu added that “there are about 12 pending investigation and legal advise; not to mention those that already been concluded successfully with convictions.”

#Nigeria –– How We Can Bring an End to Child Rape by Victoria Ibiwoye

 

In line with our hashtag #ReasonstoEndRape discussion on twitter today, one of our members has written some of her views on how rape can be stopped. It's a brilliant idea and I implore you to read it. Feel free to commend her effort by dropping your thoughts in the comment box.

Apart from being a friend to Ayo, I am a great fan of Ayodeji Osowobi's blog and I hope to support her in every way I can :).

I have watched as survivors of rape express their story with so much bitterness and anger and we may never fully understand what goes on after then. To us, it is just another sad story but to them, it is a life altered and only a few live on, others are killed inside by the torture and embarrassment.