LIFT THE VEIL PT 2

Lift the veil is all about DISCRIMINATION AND VIOLATION of the African woman so its all about the women folk......





When you educate a woman, you educate a family. When you empower a woman, you build a nation. What do we understand by the rights of a woman, its easier to talk about about it,
write about it but implementation has always been the real problem.

                                         RIGHTS OF A WOMAN

By virtue of the protocol, Nigerian women are guaranteed the right to dignity; the right to life, integrity and security of persons; freedom from harmful practices which negatively affect the human rights of women; equal rights in marriage; equal rights in cases of separation, divorce and annulment; the right to equal protection and benefit of the law; the right to participate in political and decision making process; the right to a peaceful existence and participation in the promotion and maintenance of peace; the right to education and training; equal opportunity in work and career advancement; the right to health, including sexual and reproductive rights; the right to food security; the right to adequate housing; the right to a positive cultural context; the right to a healthy and sustainable environment; the right to sustainable development; widow’s rights; the
right to equitable share in inheritance; the right of elderly women to special protection and freedom from violence; the right of women with disabilities to special protection and freedom from violence; the right of women in distress to special protection; and a right of remedy to any woman whose right or freedom has been violated.

On paper, this looks really nice but honestly, there are so many stories on the violation of these rights and little or nothing is done and most times the woman becomes the victim...

So far, some of the positive actions taken by the Nigeria government are:

Adoption of a gender policy in 2007;
Establishment of science schools for girls;
Establishment of women development centres in 36 states;
Adoption of the Trafficking in Person’s (Prohibition) Law Enforcement and Administration Act;
Establishment of a national agency for the prohibition of trafficking in persons;
Adoption of a national policy on HIV/AIDS, reproductive health and female genital mutilation

Aspects hindering the rights of women include:


The patriarchal structure of Nigerian society;
Failure of the National Assembly to pass the Abolition Of All Forms Of Discrimination Against Women In Nigeria And Other Related Matters Bill and failure to pass a national bill prohibiting violence against women.
Failure of the government to domesticate the protocol or enact appropriate legislation necessary for bringing to pass its obligations and undertakings under the protocol is worrying.

On finding this out, one question comes to mind

 Why did the Nigerian government sign the protocol? Did the government sign as a mere formality, knowing that the protocol could be frustrated by non-domestication by virtue of Section 12 of the Constitution? Or is there just a divorce between the arm of government that signs
international instrument and the arm that domesticates these agreements.

Everyday we get to hear of stories of violation to women with all these laws in place but how many women can say they have gotten JUSTICE!!!!!!!!

Its about time we stand up for our future MOTHERS, our SISTER and LEADER