16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence: Survivors for north east Nigeria tell dia tori
"I be 14 wen pipo wey dey fight goment, Boko Haram kidnap me. Dem put us inside truck come carry us go fishing community. Every night different men dey rape me and some of di oda pipo wey dem follow hold captive."
GVB survivor Hamida Na so Zubaydah (No be her real name) tok. "One year afta dem kidnap me, I manage to escape. At di end I come go stay with my papa again. Some pipo wey don hear say I run away from di Boko Haram pipo dey always insult me. E dey too bad I come stop to dey go out." Zubaydah say noting prepare her for di hardship she face wen her papa die and her sista marry and relocate "Few months afta I don return, my papa die, den my only sista come marry come relocate. I come comot and relocate to IDP camp. Di new environment dey help me make I no dey tink too much, because nobody sabi my tori." She tok. GVB Survivor, Zubaydah Bakuwa (no be her real name) get similar tori too. She say kill her husband come kidnap her and her children. "Dem force us to waka, e take us five days to reach di bush." "As we reach, dem carry me give one man wey dem call my husband. I no fit take care of my kids and mysef. We no dey always eat or bath. I try make I convince di man wey I dey live with make e allow me go but e no gree. Each time I talk about am, e go beat me." "Three years afta I don stay in di bush, I manage to escape with my kids. "We waka for 11 days before soldiers come save us." Since I don get my freedom, I try to dey avoid anywhere wey noise dey as e dey make me fear." She tok. GBV survivor, Bakuwa Zubaydah and Bakuwa tori na just one in plenti tori wey dey come out of di northeast region. For Nigeria, di United Nations estimate say 30% of women don experience gender-based violence. Di statistics bad for di northeast wia attacks by boko haram and oda miltant groups for di past 10 years don make women and girls target of gender based violence. Women wen dem gbab dey face rape, forced marriage and captivity. UN estimate say 6 in 10 women for di northeast for Nigeria don experience some kain of gender based violence, like Hamida. GVB survivor Hamida 'Sometimes I dey pray make death come' - Hamida tori "Wen I dey 12 years old, my step-brother tell me say e wan make I marry im step-brother. Im step-brother dey im middle thirty dat time." "Wen we marry, e come try to sleep with me. E dey painful, I come faint. Wen our marriage come reach third year, I come born baby girl. Afta some months pass, my husband come marry anoda woman come tell me say make I go visit my parents. When I dey house, he come send me divorce letter." "Maybe my life don dey destined to be like dis, or maybe na di marriage wey spoil my life." "As I dey prepare make I marry again, my husband come hear say I wan marry again. E come contact my family say e neva divorce me. My family come support wetin e tok and tell me to go back to im. I come run away with my daughter. I come dey do sex work. My family come disown me. Pipo dey call my children bastard. Sometimes I dey pray make death come so dem no go dey mock my children again." She tok. 'Humanitarian crisis' Di United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) say 53% of internally displaced pesins (IDP) na women and girls. While 7.9 million pipo, more dan half of di population for di region dey in need of humanitarian assistance for 2020. Every year, di 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence wey be international campaign to challenge violence against women and girls dey run from 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to 10 December, wey be Human Rights Day. For dia campaign dis year, UNFPA collabo with documentary photographer and visual artist Etinosa Yvonne to tell di tori of survivors of GBV from di north east. Dem go tell one survivor tori every day for 16 days from 25, November to 10, December, to draw attention to di mata. Zubaydah, Bakuwa and Hamida na just three inside di 16 survivors wey dem share dia tori.