Some Nigerian women marched peacefully Saturday against sexual
harassment in markets, drawing attention to unspoken incidents of
bullying, groping and name calling of their gender by menfolk.
harassment in markets, drawing attention to unspoken incidents of
bullying, groping and name calling of their gender by menfolk.
The march in Lagos took off from Ojuelegba and streamed to Yaba,
where demonstrators to their surprise were still confronted, despite
police presence, with the same abuse by male chauvinists, according to
tweets by some of the marchers.
where demonstrators to their surprise were still confronted, despite
police presence, with the same abuse by male chauvinists, according to
tweets by some of the marchers.
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| The women at Yaba market |
“Yaba boys threw water and stones at us.It was as if we unleashed the
beast in them and today I saw the physical demonstration of misogyny.
They got aggressive and resorted to physical abuse”, reported Moromoke
on Twitter.
beast in them and today I saw the physical demonstration of misogyny.
They got aggressive and resorted to physical abuse”, reported Moromoke
on Twitter.
“They made derogatory remarks about our person, they called us
jobless and said we are prostitutes ,they booed us and sang shaming
songs after us just because we made our stand known and said we won’t
take the harassment no more.
jobless and said we are prostitutes ,they booed us and sang shaming
songs after us just because we made our stand known and said we won’t
take the harassment no more.
“How aggressive can one get over someone else’s body! Those guys were
not remorseful, in fact they believe that they have the right to our
bodies and they made that quite clear even though we held placards
saying “Don’t touch me” they still tried to touch us”, she wrote.
“They threw water at us, called us prostitutes, sluts…ashawo.. They
said it was our fault that we got harassed. They claimed it was because
of our clothing & asked us to stay home if we didn’t want to be
harassed. They tried to shame us because they were ashamed”, Marketmatch
tweeted.
said it was our fault that we got harassed. They claimed it was because
of our clothing & asked us to stay home if we didn’t want to be
harassed. They tried to shame us because they were ashamed”, Marketmatch
tweeted.
The women were rallied for the march under the hashtag #marketmatchYaba.
In another tweet, the organisers believed the demonstration “was a BIG success”.
“Big ups and huge thank you to everyone who showed up. We had
expectations, some were met, others were superseded. We stood firmly
with one voice and it was clear. We have learnt a lot and can’t wait to
do more with what we know”.
expectations, some were met, others were superseded. We stood firmly
with one voice and it was clear. We have learnt a lot and can’t wait to
do more with what we know”.
The women have vowed to stage yet another demonstration very soon.
#Marketmatch appears to have all Lagos markets in its purview as it
defines its agenda as “Walking & working together to end the
normalised sexual harassment & bullying of women in markets”.
defines its agenda as “Walking & working together to end the
normalised sexual harassment & bullying of women in markets”.
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