And how exactly are we going to #Bringbackourgirls?

By Jotika C

Its an ordeal of 6 months and counting since April 14 for the 219 girls abducted in Chibok, Nigeria for being in School who unlike the other 57 very brave and slightly more fortunate young ladies managed to escape and reclaim their lives. The abduction that started in the guise of an attack on ‘western education’ has since turned to a religious battle and then to a barter of the girls with convicts associated with the terrorist organization. News-flows of the young girls being forced to change their faith, coerced into marriage and some raped coupled with little to zero positive response from the Nigerian Government and military who claim to be under resourced and stretched, lives seem stuck in a classic struggle with negotiations not going anywhere. 

Contrary to popular belief, #Bringbackourgirls campaign on social media did provide the much need traction, social pressure and international attention to this incident with a host of socially influential personalities weigh into the campaign, It seemed very unlikely at that point that this issue would outlive 6 weeks let along 6 months. However, it did. It was also tough to imagine a national military couldn’t take down a local terrorist group, however that has happened too.

Unfortunately, public memory is short lived both social pressure and international attention got divided between other pressing issues of the Islamic state extremism and Ebola. While Nigeria was offered support from various countries very little has indeed happened on the ground owing to low responsiveness of the Nigerian Government and diverted international attention/ resources. Although the attention on this has eroded, the activists and affected families continue to assemble at the Unity Fountain in the capital city of Abuja to garner support, despite facing tough grounds locally to be allowed to do so.

While the Government  maintains rescue operations are indeed in progress, the consensus is in dis-belief. The families of abducted young girls count on social media and resultant international pressure to greater action on this cause. Past 6 months are evidence to the fact that Nigeria’s domestic actions on this issue have been proved futile and the world needs a reminder….. we still need to #Bringbackourgirls

How we can all help #BringOurGirlsBack

By Jotika C

Even when there’s not too much we do too there is still a little something we can do….

Its week # 4 since over 270 young girls have been abducted from their school in Chibok, located in the north eastern Nigeria in the name of condemning the so called ‘Western’ Education after an open raid on a school on April 14 with threats to sell the girls for slavery. In the name of whatever we call our God, which God or religion can one imagine to be small hearted enough to think of any education form as  more ‘Haram’ [forbidden] than kidnapping children, disrespecting families and young girls by keeping them captive for weeks, attacking their modesty by threatening to sell them. This crosses all thresholds of being disgusting when personal agenda belittles the name of God and Religion. 

We live in the era of social networking and times lines; here is the timeline on this incident:

April 14: Threats made to kidnap girls.
April 15: Over 100 girls reported missing.
April 17: Over 230 girls registered missing.
April 23:  First time #BringBackOurGirls used by UN officials.
April 29: Malala Yousafzai speaks with BBC Radio about the abducted girls in Nigeria requesting for support from the international communities.
April 30: Girls reported being sold at $12. Since then, there has been a spike in international tweets mentioning #BringBackOurGirls in response to girls being sold as slaves. One Million Women March in Abuja, Nigeria, including mothers and families of missing girls, women from Chibok, and hundreds of Nigerians in protest about government and military response. Online Petitions begin to pressure international organisations send aid to Nigerian military.
May 1: Social media campaign takes off in U.S. with celebrities tweeting to #BringBackOurGirls. It was tweeted 268,616 times
May 5: Boko Haram publishes a video taking responsibility of the abduction and threatening to sell the girls on international “human market.” There have been reports of some girls dying of snake bites and some being ill.May 12: Another video was posted demanding release of captive militants in exchange of the abducted girls but without any indication of initiating a dialogue or negotiation as the Nigerian government was hoping. The said video shows girls in grey veils chanting Islamic verses. While 2 girls were singled out and interviewed post their alleged conversion from Christianity to Islam.

Social networks when we need to be connected the most:

We do owe credit to all the hours we spend online that it has made the world so small where the Nigerian victims have been able to mobilize support from people across the globe. There have been numerous protests worldwide against the abduction, government’s response and in support of the missing girls and their families all over social media. While the Nigerian Government conducts the rescue operation there’s nothing most of us can do except becoming ‘Hashtag activists’.

#BringBackOurGirls has been tweeted over 1.5 million times. Increasing interactions on this cause have been counting as visibly increasing international support and pressure towards this cause which has led to the Nigerian government accepting International help. As per reports by BBC the UK, the US, France and China have deployed help on the ground to aid intelligence gathering, counter-terrorism and hostage negotiations.

As we wait and hope the rescue operations do indeed Bring Our Girls Back safe and soon, there is still a little something we can do to #BringOurGirlsBack.

BRING BACK OUR GIRLS

By Jarai Sabally

I screamed and screamed and screamed but not a single sound came out of my throat, my face was twice its normal size, and my once so bright eyes took the color of blood. The hot African sun burned my skin, but I couldn’t feel it; I was paralyzed by fear. I looked around me and saw my fellow peers, once very young and joyful, screaming and begging for their lives. “This is just a nightmare” I told myself, “Soon my mama will come running, wipe my tears, comfort me and single me a song”. I close my eyes, and place my hands on them, I counted till a hundred, telling myself “This is just a nightmare”. Loud screams make me abruptly open my eyes, I saw the large monsters with their weapons threatening my peers. I realized this wasn’t a nightmare, this is real.

They say they will take us away, and make us pious and good women. They will give us away to men who will make us brides, we will become little young wives to old men. I shake my head in disbelieve, just yesterday I was trying out my new dress for the school dance. “How can my life change so drastically in less the 24hours, how?” I ask myself, and then I look up again searching for answers and a savior, but couldn’t find any.

“What have I done to deserve this?” I ask myself, “Is it because I lied to my parents yesterday about my exam, or is it because I peeked at another peer’s exam sheet while she was sharpening her pencil?, If this is the case then, I beg for forgiveness” I looked up in the sky with my bloody eyes searching for answers. “What is going to happen to me? What will they do to me? Will I ever see my parents again?” the thought of never seeing my parents again brings chills of fear in my body.

I spend the whole day trembling in fear, fear the unknown. I roll myself in a little corner and thought about my mother, how is she? She must be going crazy, how about my father, I am his only daughter, how is he dealing with this situation? My family? My family? My family? I need to be strong for my family. I sit up straight and wipe my tears “I need to be strong for my family, I will see them again, even if it takes me forever, we will meet again”. I patiently wait for the monsters to leave, then I whisper to my peers, “Be strong for your family, wipe your tears and let’s come together as one”. We all curled up to each other, said a prayer and closed our eyes. “Tomorrow will be a better day”.

BRING BACK OUR GIRLS

By Aastha Kapoor

It has been more than a month since those 276 schoolgirls were abducted from their schools and carried in a convoy truck by a group of militants in Nigeria. Around 50 of them have managed to escape and there is no news about the other 223 who are still missing. Sadly, the Nigerian government hasn’t been in action which has made an outside intervention inevitable. Social media has managed to gather a worldwide support for the cause of bringing those girls back home safely. The region they come from is a hotbed for the terrorist group ‘Boko Haram’ whose English translation is “Western education is a sin”. It is therefore not a daunting task to look for the real cause behind the abduction. Around 50 schools have been demolished in the country in recent months. It was here that these girls had resolved to get over their fears and pursue their education. Many of them were to become doctors and lawyers till the day arrived when they were kidnapped. It is feared that these girls would be put into sex trafficking.

Therefore, the problem roots from the cultural and social stigma associated with education which reveals how much work is yet to be done to dream of a happy and safe Nigeria. Only a well-informed and educated person has the tool to uproot the mismanaged system. While the US Secretary of State John Kerry has called Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan to act urgently on the large scale kidnapping and human trafficking incident, it is not the first time that an African country has come to news; there are many sectors like health, infrastructure, security, education and safety that need to be developed which in turn is impossible without worldwide solidarity and actionable plans.

Sadly, one single incident takes us miles behind our cause as it takes a lot of time to re-kindle and re-instate the same trust in people’s minds who have endured hardships to seek for a better change all these years. DeltaWomen itself works to rebuild that society. It is important though that the efforts don’t halt and that we don’t fail in our little endeavours to bring out a positive change. Even if it is signing a petition on change.org, every little effort is worth it. It is necessary to survive and win this war.

Malala Yousafzi won her fight, lets hope these schoolgirls win theirs too.

For more reading into it:

1.http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/04/opinion/sunday/kristof-bring-back-our-girls.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

2. http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/03/world/africa/nigeria-abducted-girls/