In the past couple of months, rape and gender-based violence have been on the front burner of conversations on and off social media.
More and more victims are taking back their voices, saying ‘no’ to the silence culture and naming their abusers.
In response to the growing concerns on the issue, Nigerian state governors declared a state of emergency on rape in June 2020.
And while some progress has been made, there is still a whole lot left to be done.
So, using the BBNaija platform, which is unarguably the most-watched TV show in Africa, to shed more light on the issue of sexual and gender-based violence has been hailed as a step in the right direction.
The task is not due until later this week, but it has presented the housemates an opportunity to share their thoughts and understanding of the subject matter.
Former Mr. Nigeria, Prince, disclosed he had worked on a campaign against gender-based violence shortly before he came into the house.
According to him, the disparity in the ways the boy child and the girl child are raised is a contributing factor to the high number of rape cases and gender-based violence.
He said parents spend so much time trying to raise young girls to be wonderful ladies but don’t invest as much time in raising the boys to be gentlemen forgetting that the two sexes will have to interact in the future.
Ozo and Tricky Tee argued that while it’s true that the family plays an important role in the way a child turns out, it ultimately falls back on every individual to choose the type of life they want to lead and that everyone is ultimately responsible for their actions.
Lucy, Vee, Laycon, and Dorathy also made various insightful contributions to the conversation, all of which were very well received by viewers and the general public.
Stand To End Rape Initiative, a youth-led organization that advocates for gender equality and an end to Sexual Gender-Based Violence, took to Twitter to commend the show’s organizers, MultiChoice Nigeria, for facilitating the conversation saying,
“It is great to see male housemates contributing to the conversation while providing detailed context on the power dynamics between men & women.
Big Brother Naija season 5 airs 24/7 on DStv channel 198 and GOtv Max and Jolli on channel 29.
Sign up to DStv today via www.dstvafrica.com or get GOtv Max or Jolli on www.gotvafrica.com
This post first appeared on Pulse.ng