Violence against African women and the widespread violation of their basic human rights is shaped by societal and cultural barriers. In Nigeria, women’s rights appear to be protected. The country is a signatory to many international conventions and norms such as the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa. Yet this protection is mostly on paper.
In a recent book chapter about African women in politics, I’ve noted that an African woman is too commonly labelled by her marital position as a wife of an African man. She is seen as an appendage of that man, a mere shadow.
