Gender-based violence has become a ubiquitous issue, popping up at higher rates in this present world. This is an abuse of human rights, seizing the person’s values, liberty, and dignity as human beings, which nobody deserves.
Gender-based violence includes physical, sexual, mental, or economic harm imposed on a person.
In all societies, women and girls have less power than men- over their bodies, decisions, and resources. Across the globe, women and girls- especially adolescents – face the greatest risk.
Gender-based violence takes on in numerous ways: domestic violence, sexual violence, child marriage, female genital mutilation, trafficking for sexual exploitation, female infanticide.
These crimes occur at staggering rates in every country. Girls and women may also experience gender-based violence when they are deprived of nutrition and education
Nobody prepares for gender violence or expects it to happen to them and even when it happens, nobody exhilarates in the after-effects.
Although, research has shown that some females actually enjoy and want violence that’s why some choose toxic partners. If you know anybody in that category please render the person help because nobody warrants such.
According to UNICEF, approximately one in three women and girls worldwide will experience physical or sexual violence in her lifetime. In Nigeria, the most notable gender-based violence are domesticated and sexual violence.
For decades, when a wife is violently beaten by her husband, endurance becomes the motto expected from her, while she prays he gets better. Likewise, also sexual violence.
The individual thinks of how shameful enough that such an incident occurred to them but to say it felt more injuring than curing.
Things are changing now, as females are finding their voices to speak up about experiences, to alleviate such acts of violence, and to give confidence to others to speak out.
Technology is giving women a vast pave way to air their voices and also opportunities to report similar issues or raise alarm.
Technology is helping to make life easier and better and through this invention, situations like this are now exposed and brought to light.
Immediately such stories are brought online and are spread through a million links and shares that can happen within minutes, a thorough investigation is initiated by the right authorities, either by the police or by human right activist, or by NGOs. This aids quick interference and helps the victim.
As a precedent, in October 2020, Gift and fast-growing, Davido ex artist, Lil Frosh, were both in a relationship that later ended after Gift’s friend reported online the singer’s violent behavior and relationship to Gift.
This sparked the interest of online bloggers and individuals on Instagram and Twitter, just within few hours of its release.
With thousands of tweets, retweets, posts, and captions caused a flood of interactions online, until it got to the right authorities who took it up by apprehending Lil Frosh for his actions.
Even also, the domestic violence story between Pius Angbo, a Channels Television reporter, and his wife, Ifeanyinwa Angbo became an alarming one when Ifeanyinwa, cried publicly online over her husband’s repetitive beating and extramarital affairs.
This came to the attention of the masses and the right authoritative bodies within hours, who brought both parties in. This happened because of technology.
Sexual violence stories have also gained light and women are no longer feel ashamed or shamed for sharing their rape experiences.
On the 27th of May 2020, 22-year-old UNIBEN student, Uwaila Omozuwa became a piece of heated news due to the rape and killing incident of her in a church.
This was immediately brought to the attention of everyone through the internet. After the spread of this news and awareness, the confidence released on everyone brought about an intense share of their past experiences.
All these stories are through the help of technology. Social media, blog sites, and post sites have made news vast and at the palm of everyone, to remain aware and informed every minute about everything. Further making this gender-based violence more public now than ever.
One can say technology has a bad side in invoking and heightening self-pressure and low self-esteem, consequently leading to depression and an inroad for girls to commit suicide.
Regardless, technology has proved to seem and stay as a strong means of helping victims.
With proliferating rates of gender-based violence surging on the internet. There is a need to harness technology in these factors, with how fast and efficacious it has proved it is.
Harnessing the Positivity of Technology
Everything has a good or bad side, but one can decide to cling to the good side of that thing, and thereby, covering the bad with a bigger share of the good.
So it is with technology, we can decide to use majorly the good side of technology. Harnessing it to help victims affected and still getting affected by gender-based violence.
Technology can bring about positivity when we use it to help a victim undergoing gender-based violence, who is too scared to speak out or even to voice out ourselves.
Bullying someone’s voice or struggle should not occur because it was already hard enough for someone to deal with it and come out to share her experience.
If you are opportune to know a friend in such bracket, do not bully such a person online but instead help to remove the person from such a situation.
We are all our brother’s keepers and we should care for one another. No matter who you are, one-click or share about someone in that circumstance, can go far in bringing such news to the right authorities that can handle such cases.
Let us all use technology to improve our lives and reduce the surging occurrence of gender-based violence in our society.
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