Latest / Chatting with The Experts with Paula Okonneh / Addressing Gender-Based Violence in Nigeria

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Addressing Gender-Based Violence in Nigeria · Chatting with The Experts with Paula Okonneh

0:06
Hello everyone.
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I'm Paula Okonneh, podcaster coach and TV show host of Chatting with the Experts.
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This show amplifies the voices of African women, Caribbean women, and
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diaspora women who will share in their knowledge and expertise to inspire,
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to educate and empower women globally.
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What I do wanna say is that everyone's voice matters.
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Your voice matters.
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And so I'm here to celebrate that.
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So let's dive right into today's episode of Chatting with the Experts.
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Our title today is Exploring Gender-Based Violence against women and girls in
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Nigeria, and we are gonna highlight the heightened vulnerability of
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women and girls with disabilities.
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So I'll tell you a little bit about the guest who will be
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joining me in a few minutes.
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Her name is Dr. Stella Iwuagwu and she's a public health professional.
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I'm also the founder and executive director of Center for
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the Right to Health, a Nigerian based nonprofit organization.
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Center for the Right to Health advocates for quality healthcare,
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especially for the most vulnerable.
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And so that's what we are gonna be talking about today.
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So with that, I wanna welcome Dr Stella to Chatting with the Experts.
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Hello.
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Hello, Dr Stella.
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It's always a pleasure to have you here and I read a snippet of your bio
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because there's so much more I could talk about where you are concerned.
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But today is a little different.
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We are not talking about your business, your farm business,
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which is, you know, so, so amazing.
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But we are gonna be touching on a topic that is in some ways heartbreaking,
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but we need to address it.
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So we today, as we said, the title is Exploring Gender-Based Violence
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Against Women and Girls in Nigeria.
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Tell me more about that, please.
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Well, gender-based violence against women and girls in Nigeria
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has reached epidemic proportion.
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It's happening at home, in school, at work, in public places, and as a matter
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of fact, Nigerian women are in danger species, and it starts right from birth.
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At birth, there is a selection, a preference for male child,
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almost across culture.
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In terms of it, access to education, the girls are probably often sent to
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her or care for someone or sent off to us households in one form or the other.
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And, so a lot of preference is given to the education of the male child.
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And a lot of girls that are hawking or selling or that are used as
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house girls also experience a lot of both physical and sexual violence.
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Mm-hmm.
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So there's physical violence that's going on.
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There is also physical violence is so rampant right now.
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As a matter of fact, women as and girls are so endangered that we
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are having serious cases of using girls body parts for rituals?
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Oh, no.
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You'll be dating someone.
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You think you have a boyfriend or you're going to go visit your boyfriend and
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before you know it, there are many, so many cases where men have been
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caught with body parts of women for rituals, no only with money rituals.
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There are also a lot of cases where girls, women are kidnapped and their organs are
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stolen, trafficked in the organ trade.
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A lot of women and girls are trafficked for sex works across
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border and even within the country, so that's the challenge.
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Then even in our homes, women are not safe.
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A lot of women experience physical violence.
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It does not matter the culture.
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It's across culture.
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It's across socioeconomic classes, across level of education.
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But then of course, those with lesser education and lesser economic and
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inability experience more violence.
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So there's the physical violence, the sexual violence.
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There's also emotional violence, you know?
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A lot of female genital mutilation, early marriage, you know, not being
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able to access care, antenatal care, maternity care, or even beating while
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trying to give birth is also a form of violence that happened within
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our health system in the workplace.
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A lot of women are working full-time job and they also expected to sexually satisfy
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their bosses or experience a lot of sexual harassment, that abuse in the workplace.
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You enter the market to go and shop for something and men are dragging
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you here and pulling you here.
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You do not have respect for your bodily autonomy and you don't have a say.
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And if anything happen, you are blamed about how you are dressed or is it
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a crime to be a woman in Nigeria?
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Well, while we're talking about all of that, there is a group of women
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that I want to particularly address.
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I was going through a section on that was talking about women in general.
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When we discuss gender-based violence, sometimes we break it.
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Even women with HIV go through the stigma and experience more violence
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because they often the ones that are blamed for bringing infection,
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even when that is not the fact.
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But there's a group that are often, that are more at risk of gender-based violence,
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but the studies don't even mention them.
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That is women with disability.
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Yes.
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Maybe I took interest because I myself am a woman with disability.
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Mm.
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Women are more at risk of gender-based violence than men.
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That's a fact.
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But women with disability are three times more at risk of gender-based
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violence than other women.
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Yet none of the studies mentioned them.
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Nobody's really looking seriously at their vulnerability.
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Why are women with disability more vulnerable, three times
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more vulnerable than other women?
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That brings us to the intersectoral factors, the intersectional factors
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that increase their vulnerability.
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So visualize this, a woman who cannot see, cannot see her assailant coming.
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The woman who cannot hear, cannot hear her assailant coming.
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A woman who cannot speak may not even be able to protest and not wanting advances.
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'cause a lot of women with disability experience, sexual
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violence, physical violence, even sometimes by their care providers.
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A woman who cannot speak, may not even be able to report and tell
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the story of what happened to her.
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We have that even among kids in schools for girls and people with
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disability who have cases there.
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Now, a woman who cannot physically run on a wheelchair, on a crutches, how far can
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you run when your assailant is coming to you so you can't even protect yourself?
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You are like a sitting duck with practically for your assailant.
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They said abusers abuse mainly because of power, right?
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So if a man is feeling a sense of power, can you not imagine the level
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of powerlessness between a man and a woman on a wheelchair or a woman with
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disability who is even less powerful?
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In our society, women are less valued than men.
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The women with disability are even more... more what?
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How do I put it?
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They're even less valued than other women that don't have disability.
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And that's sad.
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So society protects what they value.
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To what extent are women with disabilities valued?
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We have many cases of, so we look at the cultural lens.
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So when we're looking at those intersectionalities, let's look at the
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cultural factors that increases the vulnerability of women to gender-based
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violence and even the increased higher vulnerability of women with
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disability to gender-based violence.
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So let's talk about that.
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And women are less valued than men.
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And then as a woman with disability, you are either seen as a burden
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or maybe you brought it upon yourself, or you are a cause.
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So in this perspective, you find out that you are less protected.
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You as a woman with disability, you are more at risk.
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Then sometimes for ritual purposes, maybe you are an albino, they will tell
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you, oh, go and sleep with an albino.
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Then you are gonna go for a ritual.
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We did a documentary recently that was funded by the Ford Foundation that
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explored gender-based violence experienced by women living with disability.
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It's on YouTube.
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Hopefully, some of you would've watched it or would get to watch it
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either before or after this program.
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In that story, we have one of the girls with disability.
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She's like a little person, but she went to play a role in a movie and
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where she went to look for work.
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She was sexually abused and after the incident, the man used white
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handkerchief to wipe her down.
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So that has some element of rituals in it.
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We have cases where women that are blind, they are not seen as good enough to marry.
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The men will sneak in at night or in unusual places and sleep with them,
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and then these women are because they have little or no education.
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Employment is also a challenge, so they are often financially dependent.
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They're destitute sometimes and financially dependent on others, either
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their carer or the man in their life.
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And this increases their vulnerability also.
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They can't walk away from bad... not only are they more at risk at
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gender-based violence, they're often not able to walk away or report it.
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Lemme ask you a question.
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Some of these challenges.
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Let me ask a question.
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So what are some of the biggest obstacles that, when it comes to education that
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some of that girls, let's start with girls, because girls grow up into women.
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What are some of the biggest obstacles that they, that our girls, I have to say,
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face when trying to access education?
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Are there schools?
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Yeah.
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Well, for most people, both girls and boys get access to education.
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But for girls with disability, that structure is often not there.
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That's what I'm asking.
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Whether you are blind.
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Yes.
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How do you transport yourself to school?
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If you can't see, who will interpret for you?
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If you can't hear, who will... So do services they have, like in Western
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cultures here, we don't have back home.
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Where we have is either poorly funded and very limited accessibility.
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Look at the transport system.
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Mm-hmm.
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So of course.
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So that limitation, I remember I did my fourth year in nursing at
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the Obafemi Awolowo University.
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And nursing you said?
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Unconscious because I had an accident.
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It was so difficult.
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There's barely any bus that would transport you.
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So you need to see me trying to cross through and
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there's barely any space for wheelchairs.
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Stairs everywhere.
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I remember in those days we used to see some people, few blind students
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who've had cases, case on wheelchair.
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How do you navigate that?
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It's absolutely difficult.
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It's very limiting, and yet we have a few persons with disability that
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broke the barrier and went through it.
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So they have to work three or four times harder than other
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people to get the education.
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How do we provide a levelled playing ground for them?
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So it's discriminatory.
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So that now limits even the ability to get opportunities for work.
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With limited qualification, you also have limited employment.
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Even the ones that are fully qualified to get a job becomes also a challenge.
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Workplaces are not accessible,
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you know?
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So those are some of the challenges.
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Remember the last time I went to Nigeria, somebody had to carry me on their
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back to climb a three story building.
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Because there was no elevator.
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Imagine a person that is a person with disability that is pregnant.
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How do you deal with transportation to get to the hospital?
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When you get to the hospital, are there ramps to take you there?
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When you finally get to the clinic or to the labour room,
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how high is the bed or the couch?
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Can you be able to get onto it?
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I remember one time I got there and the nurse just said, oh, get on the couch.
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Get on the couch.
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The couch is that high.
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I'm still on a wheelchair.
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How is spinal cord injury?
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They didn't even ask what I can be able to do or not be able to do.
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So little understanding and adaptation.
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Lot of people have not actually... the eyes that people with disability
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are almost in invisible, so we don't focus on their circumstances
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when we do at all, is from pity,
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or handouts, not as full fledged human beings, citizens with basic rights and
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accommodation that ought to be provided for them to have a fulfilled life.
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So, Dr. Stella, I I wanna ask you, so as the executive director actually of Center
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of Right to Health, what exactly does the Center of Right do and how can we help?
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When we look at health, we look at Health 360 from multiple dimension.
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Mm-hmm.
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And, we focus more on the most vulnerable.
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How do we actualize their health?
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Health is not only what happens in the hospital.
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Mm-hmm.
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Health is also your ability to access services, your ability to access
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food, your ability to live, equality, life and gender-based violence has
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been declared a public health crisis.
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Because you have emotional challenges.
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The domestic gender-based violence that people experience with at home and
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outside can lead to changes in their DNA, predisposes them to mental health
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challenge, physical challenges, illnesses.
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They have a lot of pregnant women that are beaten even in their pregnancy,
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and sometimes there's no recourse.
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Mm-hmm.
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There are very few safe houses.
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Access to justice is very limited.
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So what we do, so we identify persons with disability, particularly women
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with disability, as one of the vulnerable population that we are
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focusing on highlighting their cases.
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While there's a lot of conversation around gender-based violence, there's
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not much happening highlighting the plight of persons with disability.
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Being a person with disability myself, I felt like since there's a gap,
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this is something we can take up.
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How do we ensure that they have access to healthcare?
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When they experience sexual violence, how do we ensure that there is
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consequences for the perpetrators?
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How do we ensure that their basic needs are met?
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Look at what are those?
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Do they need help for education?
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Do they need help for basic health services?
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Do they need to start a little business so they can be economically independent?
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We do advocacy to bring their circumstances to the fall so that the
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duty bearers will begin to highlight.
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The other day I went to a place, most of the places in Nigeria are not accessible.
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So how can they excel and have a quality life when they can't
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even access public spaces?
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So these are some of the things we look at.
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How do we ensure to mobilizing the multi sector?
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Right now we're talking with priests in this project.
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We're talking with religious leaders.
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Mm-hmm.
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Because they have captive audience in most churches are not even accessible.
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And where they are... where are your congregation in the
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community where you operate.
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They say a society is known by how they treat their most vulnerable,
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and persons with disability are the most vulnerable in our society.
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How we reaching out when we do reach out is mainly from a charity perspective.
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You might be giving her bread, yet she's dying emotionally.
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Mm-hmm.
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They're often isolated.
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They may not even come to the place of worship.
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So can we find a way to connect her with worship centers?
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Can we reach out and ask, are you okay?
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If the person comes to the health center, can you ask, are you safe?
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Give her an opportunity to share with you her challenge, empathy.
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Have a conversation.
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What can you give, what support?
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So what I'm hearing is from you
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shelter, we don't have any shelter.
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And then how do you help someone that is in a domestic violence
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situation and they can't leave?
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There are many ways people can help.
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We're also engaging with the traditional institution, traditional gatekeepers.
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I wanted to ask you that too.
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But even when laws are passed at national level or state level, it takes
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a while to trickle to community level.
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So we are mobilizing an army of compassion to begin to look at
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this, to start community dialogue and community conversation.
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How do we begin to change the norms that are driving some of these
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patriachical tendencies that drive the epidemic of gender-based violence.
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How do we work with men?
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How do we have a few men of goodwill that will speak up on behalf of women?
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So, Dr Stella, quick question.
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So these are questions that you're asking.
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How do we get men involved in this?
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Are you seeing any positive directions?
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Is this something that your center is addressing?
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Is this something that, you know, like you made a very valid point about
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religious, institutions, the church, you know, where as you said, you have
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a captive audience, the congregants.
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Mm-hmm.
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Is this something that the Center of Right to Health is able to reach out to?
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Yeah.
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It is something we're already doing.
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You're already doing.
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We did that documentary Breaking the Silence.
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It's on YouTube.
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Yes.
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We put it out there.
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Yes.
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So we're showing it to churches, to religious leaders.
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So we had a session where we premiered the documentary.
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We had almost 80 - 100 religious and cultural leaders in the room, and they
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watched the girls share their experiences.
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Mm-hmm.
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So stories are powerful and the stories told touched their hearts,
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brought awareness to them about what they do not even realize
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is happening in their community.
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And there's a resolve to do something about it.
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And we followed up with community engagement.
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We went with their, we went to their community.
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We paid advocacy visit to all their communities, and they're able to call
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their cabinets and village heads so we can have a conversation and let them
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begin to increase awareness and come up with their own unique community
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approach to addressing these challenges.
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At least start with knowing the persons with disability in your
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community who are the most vulnerable.
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Sometimes they'll share palliative, everybody will share, forget those
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that need the palliative the most.
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You know, we're talking about health insurance.
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How do sometimes the opportunity to register them for free health
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insurance, but if they don't know where they are, how can that service get
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to the person that need it the most?
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So it's creating this awareness to identify the most vulnerable
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and explore their challenges and find ways to protect them.
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But as we're talking about persons with disability, we're also talking
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about other women who may not have a disability, who are also
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experiencing gender-based violence.
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Yes.
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So it's a difficult conversation, but we are starting from the most vulnerable.
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It's easier for them to assist to understand how, if this is
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happening to women with disability that are most vulnerable.
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So you can imagine what is happening to other women.
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Mm-hmm.
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Women with disability are not spared.
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If we cannot spare them the pain, if we can't protect them,
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who then are we protecting?
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So we bring it to their attention and they run with it.
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We're doing that.
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We're also talking with the media.
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We're talking with the media.
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So this is a tool.
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Take it, listen to it.
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What are you doing in the media to bring attention?
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So we do media, radio programs and what I'm doing now to highlight,
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to bring it to attention.
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You know, ask question.
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You know, another reason why we are focusing on religious leaders is this,
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many women stay in abusive relationship because of religious percepts.
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Oh, divorce is crazy.
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Or you can't leave.
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You must have done something wrong.
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You have to be a virtuous woman and people are dying.
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One of the cases that opened up the craziness, what is happening
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in the religious community is the death of Osinachi Nwachukwu,
22:33
the singer, the gospel singer.
22:34
Yes.
22:34
Yes.
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That was, you know, like
22:36
four years ago.
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So it's brought to their attention.
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What message are we passing in our religious institution?
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Are we really speaking to the men?
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Because oftentimes they tell you, pray, pray, pray.
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Sometimes you got to leave to live.
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Alexa, say that again.
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You've got to, you gotta leave to leave to live.
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You got L-E-A-V-E to live.
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L-I-V-E.
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Yeah.
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Then I say, oh, you can, you're bringing shame to the family.
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So that's another cultural thing.
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So there's a religious shame.
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It's also the cultural shame that keep women in place.
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Stay for your children.
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We need to understand that children themself are traumatized.
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Yes.
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They die a little each day as they experience violence.
23:22
Yes.
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So you need to leave for your children's sake.
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Yes.
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So children are not the reason to stay.
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They're the reason to leave.
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Yes.
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If you love your children, don't let them see you battered.
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Take a stance.
23:38
Yes.
23:40
And we need to also talk to families, and families exist within
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communities, and this is where the Christian mothers have their norms.
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Sometimes Christian mothers, particularly in the Catholic church,
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you might be as communicated because your daughter left a violent marriage.
23:55
Mm-hmm.
23:56
What are we saying?
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Yes.
24:00
That you should die in the marriage because you want to please God?
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What kind of God is that?
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This is where we are focusing on our religious institutions and
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our cultural institutions, and many of those are led by men.
24:21
And then we also have cultural gatekeepers that also women, particularly in
24:25
an Igbo land and all the powers and widowhood practices and all of the
24:29
things that happen in that space.
24:31
Sometimes because a woman is married in a community, you lose your dignity
24:38
in the midst of your other women.
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You know?
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So there's a lot that is happening that we need to culturally explore.
24:44
Inheritance, property inheritance, particularly in Igbo land, women do
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not inherit as wives nor as daughters.
24:54
It goes to the men.
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You'll walk and build with your husband.
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Buy land, acquire land, acquire property.
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At the end of the day, they tell you the thing goes to the sons.
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You have no authority.
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If your father dies intestate, all the resources goes to the male.
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Women are not, they say, oh, you will inherit in your husband's
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house, but when you go to your husband's house, you don't inherit.
25:17
It is the son that inherits.
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So what happens to the woman has a girl child or the woman protected.
25:24
There's a lot to unpack.
25:24
Even though the Supreme Court has passed a law that says women should be allowed
25:29
to inherit from their father's property.
25:31
They'll tell you when they finish at the Supreme Court, come
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and enforce it in the village.
25:37
But if we start engaging with men to say, protect your
25:41
daughters, value your daughters.
25:42
Don't let them be harm.
25:44
As a program, we have called Sisters Keepers, that we are targeting the men,
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the brothers, the uncles, the fathers.
25:51
How do we protect our sisters if we let the family marrying
25:56
her know that it is zero sum.
25:58
We don't tolerate violence.
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Don't hurt our children.
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And girl, you know, if you abuse, there is home.
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But the tendency is, oh, you better behave.
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There's no home for you to come back to.
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You're not allowed to come back here.
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So whatever she sees, and then we deal with all this bride price and
26:13
stuff that, that make it seem like a shuttle, like something that is sold.
26:19
There's a lot to unpack and we need to look at the multi-sector.
26:23
You know, like in some of the cases that we are dealing with, these kids,
26:27
they know who got them pregnant.
26:29
A lot of them are underaged.
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What is the security services doing about it?
26:35
What are the social welfare departments doing about it?
26:37
A lot of the time these women don't have the capacity to do the
26:41
leg work to access justice and in Nigeria, justice costs money.
26:47
It requires resources.
26:49
A lot of which we don't have.
26:53
Wait, lemme stop you there.
26:54
A lot of which, lemme stop you right there.
26:56
You said it requires resources and money and a lot of which we don't have.
27:02
I beg to differ.
27:03
We probably have it but it's in the wrong hands.
27:05
We have it and a lot of people are not even aware of what their
27:08
rights are in the first place.
27:11
So even though the resources can be there, you have to have
27:16
people aware who can actually...
27:19
access the resources.
27:20
Yes.
27:20
Yeah, so we're putting out information, but there are times when people need to
27:24
be physically removed from where they are.
27:27
I agree.
27:28
There are times when you have to physically go to the
27:31
location and make a inquiry.
27:32
Sometimes we see a lot flying on the social media.
27:35
We have cases of women beating, and so we'll track and track and track,
27:39
and then until we find a location.
27:41
We have to send someone there to rescue, to inquire, you know, all
27:44
these are programmatic logistics.
27:47
Have logistics implication, have, you know, funding implication.
27:52
I love that.
27:53
That's what Center for the Right to Health are doing.
27:57
Yes.
27:58
This is really good.
28:00
I know.
28:00
Not to cut you short, I'm just looking at time.
28:03
I know that you did, you mentioned a documentary you did
28:07
called Breaking the Silence.
28:10
Let's talk a little bit about that.
28:12
I'm gonna put it in the chat.
28:13
Of course.
28:15
Yeah.
28:15
The documentary is called Breaking the Silence.
28:18
It's really a documentary we did where women with disability in Imo State.
28:24
Imo State.
28:24
To share their experiences.
28:26
Yes, we focused on Imo State because a lot of work has been done in other areas and
28:30
in Igbo culture it's even more pervasive.
28:33
So they shared their experiences who had a case of a little person that
28:37
was sexually abused, had a child who have another case of a blind
28:41
woman that was also sexually abused.
28:44
And the sad thing about this, as all the children in that family, I think
28:48
they have like a hereditary thing.
28:50
I think is a pigmentosa.
28:51
So again, in most of this situation, nobody is taking responsibility, you know?
28:58
So you have a woman with disability that can barely feed herself
29:01
and is now stuck with a child that they cannot take care of.
29:05
We have cases of balance at workplace, denial of work opportunity.
29:11
We'll have cases where some of these women will get married or somebody
29:14
showed interest and then they are not worthy of being married.
29:17
The other family, the man's family will reject them, castigate them, you know,
29:22
Even if the man is interested
29:24
.
29:29
it because sometimes women with disability are seen as bad women.
29:35
They are seen as unworthy and sometimes like, oh, you haven't seen all the...
29:48
they deserve love and affection.
29:59
Okay, good.
30:01
So that's part of the things that are shared in the documentary, and we are
30:05
just using it as a story to enable people understand some of the perspective of...
30:12
yes.
30:12
Gender-based violence, that women with disability experience.
30:15
They also shared some of the challenges they have with transportation.
30:19
Some of the challenges at workplaces, you know, accessing opportunities.
30:24
While the person with disability that plays tennis, she is like
30:28
an Olympic media mid medalist.
30:30
But if you see where she lives, the squalor.
30:34
Oh no.
30:34
And you know, so if they were able-bodied, I think they will
30:38
be better appreciated than that.
30:40
Absolutely.
30:40
So those are some of the cases that were highlighted in the documentary
30:43
and it's just a tool to create awareness and, raise some sensitivity.
30:50
So that people can begin to find a space to address it.
30:53
Like we said, now that you have heard, what are you going to do about it?
30:57
Yes.
30:57
Now that you've heard their story, what are you going to do about it?
31:01
Absolutely.
31:01
And we are here to further the conversation in people are
31:05
acting just sphere of influence.
31:07
So if it's have persons with disability around you, knowing that they're
31:10
vulnerable, ask about their safety.
31:13
Are you safe?
31:14
Create a trusted environment for them to be able to share
31:16
their circumstances with you.
31:18
Lead, understand the resources that are valuable and direct
31:21
them to some of those resources.
31:23
And sometimes support organizations providing support for those persons.
31:28
Because right now, Nigeria is a very rough place.
31:31
Some of them, even hunger is a major challenge.
31:34
As a matter of fact, hunger is being weaponized in Nigeria right now.
31:37
People are hungry.
31:39
Yes.
31:39
We have a saying that the hungry man is an angry man, but the
31:43
hungry man is too weak to fight.
31:46
Mm-hmm.
31:47
So it's really difficult to pursue right when you are hungry.
31:51
You know, part of the cases that we have also, you know, sometimes when there's a
31:57
situation where a person has experienced violence and this is often either
32:00
the woman or there's a child involved and the case is taken to the police.
32:05
Then you will see cultural pressure from either the family or the
32:09
cultural institutions will push it.
32:12
Oh, withdraw.
32:12
It is a family thing.
32:13
No, no.
32:15
It's a crime.
32:16
It's a crime.
32:17
It's not just a crime against the human being that you've molested.
32:20
It's a crime against the State.
32:24
It's sometimes we have to put the people in hiding so they cannot
32:27
be reached and pressured because if there are no consequences,
32:32
impunity will continue to reign.
32:34
Absolutely.
32:35
But we need to highlight these cases, and that's one we
32:38
also trained the media about.
32:40
Let's not just sensationalize it and forget about it.
32:43
Let's follow it to its conclusion.
32:46
Let's encourage them until justice is served.
32:50
And that's one reason that I invited you today to spread more light, to spread
32:57
more awareness of these things that are happening, continue to happen and may
33:02
continue to happen if we are not aware of it, if we are not shedding light on it.
33:08
And if we are not committed to change because nothing happens
33:14
except someone takes the first step.
33:17
So in continuance with this, we are gonna open up the floor to audience members so
33:23
they can ask you further questions so we can find out how else we can help you.
33:28
But for those looking online, how can they get in touch with you, Dr. Stella?
33:33
I can be reached on siwuagwu@gmail.com
33:39
Okay.
33:39
siwuagwu@gmail.com I'm also available on WhatsApp.
33:44
Okay.
33:46
Can reach me on WhatsApp, either on my Nigerian WhatsApp, which
33:49
is +234 809 300 6708 or my US number, which is +1 216 904 4260.
34:04
And, can also be reached through our Facebook and Instagram, CRH Nigeria.
34:11
So, that's really the best way to reach me.
34:13
We can put it in the...
34:14
in the chat.
34:16
In the chat.
34:17
And our website is,
34:21
http://crhnigeria.org/.
34:24
So you, in the website and Facebook, you see a lot of our work that we do.
34:30
We have mobile health services because sometimes people don't
34:33
have access to healthcare.
34:34
We take healthcare to where it is most needed, and we continue to be a voice
34:39
for those that do not have the voice to be able to advocate for themselves.
34:44
And then we build capacity because nobody can advocate even while sometimes some
34:50
people can advocate better for you.
34:52
But when you train people and give them the knowledge and skills for their own
34:56
advocacy, it increases the number of voices they're speaking up for justice.
35:02
Change is possible.
35:05
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
35:06
Awareness definitely changes things.
35:09
And so for those of you who have listened in or who are in the audience and
35:17
who would like to help, Dr Stella is available for you after this livestream
35:23
to have a conversation with her.
35:26
And to the general public, if you'd like to be a guest on the show,
35:29
just like Dr Stella has been, you can reach out to me on my website,
35:34
which is chattingwiththeexperts.com.
35:37
I can also be reached on LinkedIn as Paula Okonneh.
35:41
I have a YouTube channel, which is Chatting with the Experts.
35:46
We ask that you reach out to us, then subscribe, leave your comments.
35:50
I'm on Facebook and I am on Instagram.
35:55
My handle on Instagram is at chat_experts_podcast.
36:01
I wanna thank you for listening to Chatting with the Experts today,
36:07
and if this episode stretched your thinking, made you think about all
36:13
of what Dr. Stella has outlined here.
36:16
We ask that you pass on this message.
36:18
Don't keep it to yourself.
36:20
You can do that by dropping a note, a comment on YouTube or dropping
36:25
a note for me on LinkedIn or on my side Chatting with the Experts.
36:31
Thank you so much, Dr Stella, for bringing awareness to this or to what's
36:37
happening to our fellow women in Nigeria, especially women with disabilities.
36:43
And let's now open up the floor to questions from everyone who joined us.
36:49
Thank you.
36:50
Thank you for the opportunity.