The Lagos Chapter of the Strategic Women and Youth Institute's (SWYI) Youth Ambassadors recently embarked…
Creating A Safe and Reliable Environment by Women, For Women
Our environment is not safe as women and girls experience and fear different forms of sexual violence in public spaces, from unwelcome sexual remarks and gestures to rape and femicide.
It happens on streets, in and around public transportation, schools, workplaces, public toilets, water and food distribution sites, and parks.
The freedom of movement is reduced for these women even though domestic and workplace violence is now widely recognized as a human rights violation, sexual harassment and other forms of violence against women and girls in public spaces are often neglected, with few laws or policies in place to prevent and address it.
This hampers women’s participation in public places and limits their access to essential services and their enjoyment of cultural and recreational activities, and negatively impacts their health and well-being.
SWYI is calling on leading women’s organizations, local and national governments, UN agencies, and other partners to collaborate with them in developing, implementing, and evaluating comprehensive approaches to prevent and respond to sexual harassment against women and girls in public spaces in different settings.
One of the major activities of SWYI in commemoration of international women’s day in March 2023 with the theme #EmbraceEquity Will be an awareness-raising session on the prevention of sexual harassment.
Such as creating safe public spaces and cities in Nigeria for women and girls.
Historically, purple was a color that denoted justice and dignity, and now it is used to represent women. Green is a symbol of hope.
This year purple is the color of International Women’s Day.