Abuja, Nigeria – 25 July, 2025
As the world marks the 2025 International Day of Women and Girls of African Descent, ImpactHouse Centre for Development Communication and the Grace Agbonlahor Foundation (GAF) call on Nigerian leaders and institutions to take concrete action to protect the rights, dignity, and safety of every girl in Nigeria.
This call comes on the heels of the pilot edition of the Voices at the Table (VATT) citizens’ assembly, held earlier this month in Benin City, Edo State. During the session, 16 adolescent girls and young women shared deeply personal stories about the insecurity they face in both public and private spaces. They spoke about street harassment, sexual violence, abuse within the home, and the fear they experience simply walking back from school. Alongside these painful testimonies, they offered bold and practical solutions rooted in their lived experiences.
One of the participants, a 14-year-old (whose name is withheld), spoke movingly about a classmate with a speech impairment who was constantly mocked and isolated by her peers. ‘If she had more friends who could stand up for her, she would feel safe’, she said. Another participant recounted being raped at the age of eight by a trusted neighbour and keeping the trauma buried for years. Others told of narrow escapes from street gangs, abusive family members, and dangerous shortcuts on the way home from church.
‘I had just attended a youth-led programme at my church, and afterward, I was walking home with some fellow church members’, a participant recounted. ‘The journey back was long, so we chose the shortcut, a narrow route that we all knew was a hangout for street cultists. We figured that walking as a group would keep us safe, even though it was an unsettling decision. What made me more uneasy was the fact that we were all women.
‘As we approached the most dreaded stretch of that shortcut, the exact spot they usually gather, we saw them. Ten men. Five ahead of us. Five closing in from behind. I cannot describe the chill that swept through me. It was pure fear. We took off. We did not care about the bags we flung behind or the Bibles inside. We just ran, like our lives depended on it. And honestly, I think they did. Since that day, I have never walked that route again. Not once. And I never will.’
These experiences reflect a national crisis that is all too often ignored. According to UNICEF, six in ten Nigerian girls experience gender-based violence before the age of 18.
‘What we are witnessing is evidence of systemic failure and a direct betrayal of Nigeria’s commitments under the SDGs, the Child Rights Act, the African Charter, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). You cannot claim progress while girls are unsafe, unheard, and unprotected’, the ImpactHouse Programmes Manager, Chinomso Momoh, bemoaned.
Yet, the VATT session was not a space for despair, as the girls demanded action. Their proposals included improved public infrastructure such as street lighting and CCTV, school-based counselling services, comprehensive sexuality education, community safety task forces, and the engagement of men and boys as allies in creating safer communities for girls.
‘We stand firmly with girls who not only dream of safer communities but demand it through bold, practical solutions. At GAF, we are committed to turning their advocacy into action’, the GAF Manager, Felicitas Nwadiolu, said.
ImpactHouse and GAF urge the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs to take the lead in mainstreaming and funding girl-led safety initiatives. To shift harmful gender norms, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) must roll out targeted public awareness campaigns that reach communities at every level. For their part, state governments and local authorities also have a crucial role to play by investing in the infrastructure, such as street lighting and safe community spaces, that supports girls’ safety.
We also call on law enforcement agencies, including the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), to establish and maintain gender desks that are both youth-friendly and responsive to threats.
As we honour women and girls of African descent today, let it be with urgent policy responses, tangible protection, and long-term investments in girl-led leadership.
Note to Editors:
VATT is a girl-led civic dialogue initiative that provides safe spaces for adolescent girls and young women to share their stories, shape public solutions, and participate meaningfully in the civic life of their communities. The project is powered by GAF in partnership with ImpactHouse. Each quarter, a selected group of girls gathers at GAF’s civic hub in Benin City, Edo State, for a physical assembly, ensuring both digital and offline participation. These contributions are consolidated into a quarterly Voices at the Table Report, which is presented to policymakers, development partners, media platforms, and advocacy coalitions.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Chinomso Momoh
Programmes Manager, ImpactHouse
+2348087907931
Felicitas Nwadiolu
Foundation Manager
felicitas.nwadiolu@gaf.org.ng
08162272016
