I am here as a soldier who has temporarily left the field of battle in order to explain – it seems strange it should have to be explained – what a stand against rape or domestic violence is like when it affects the womenfolk.
I am not only here as a soldier temporarily away from the battle field; I am here as a person , as a woman who , according to some unwritten laws in my country , that I am of no value to the community at all except to be married off and spend the rest of my life in servitude to a man.
This is the fate of womenfolk in my country . When we revolt they call us militants and all sorts of names . When we decide to dialogue they call us weaker vessels . We are not allowed to ask political questions and when we do , we don’t get any answers .
Well, we are quite willing to accept what ever name we are called this time.
At this point ; it is left for us women folk to make a choice of two evils : That we either have to submit to these unjust state of affairs indefinitely and hope that one day these ills against women and the girl child will end , or we would have to rise up and adopt some of the antiquated means by which men in the past for their grievances remedied.
©Ann Eze 2017
