How Forbidden Topics is Tackling Gender-Based Violence(GBV) in Nigeria and Beyond
Forbidden Topics is a social movement and a campaign that amplifies the voices of adolescent girls and young women who have been subjected to or are victims of Gender-Based Violence (GBV), institutional sexism, and gender inequality. Founded by Oluwadamilola Akintewe, a 500-level law student at Adekunle Ajasin University (AAUA) in Ondo State, Nigeria, Forbidden Topics is a platform that demystifies the taboo on conversations surrounding women’s rights and it creates a haven for women and girls to be expressive of sexual and domestic abuse in their day-to-day life.
The platform was created in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period the rate of GBV increased. In March 2020, a publication that corroborated this issue was released by the UN Women agency titled “Gender-Based Violence in Nigeria during the COVID-19 Crisis: The Shadow Pandemic”. It stated that both preliminary data from 24 states and data on recorded GBV cases in Nigeria indicated that although there were 346 GBV incidences reported overall in March, there were 794 reported during the first two weeks of lockdown, representing a 56% increase. Some of these violent acts have tragically resulted in fatalities, child rape, incestual rape, and landlord-tenant assault.
Oluwadamilola, the Forbidden Topics Founder, was the former Team leader of her university’s Enactus team, a 2021 finalist of the Chegg global student Prize , winner of the inaugural Samantha Singh Award Essay, and the 2022 Diana Award Recipient of Social Impact. Oluwadamilola Akintewe is a social activist that works on bridging the gap faced by women and girls in society.
“We acknowledge that silence is violence and perpetrators of violence hide behind the victim-blaming culture to continue to wreak their acts. At Forbidden Topics, we provide a platform for young people to share their experiences with sexual and gender-based violence without fear of shame. They are empowered to own their stories while also collaborating with other young people to create change surrounding these issues”, said Oluwadamilola
When Oluwadamilola returned to school, Forbidden Topics, which had originally been a storytelling platform for women to share their pandemic-era stories, had grown into an actual community. This group provided women with a forum to discuss ways to end gender-based violence and to support one another in becoming their best selves.
At the beginning of this year, Forbidden Topics developed into a fellowship/mentorship dubbed “She-Village.” She Village is a cohort-based program that selectively chooses 16 young women to learn advocacy, communication, and confidence skills so they can develop their own social impact project focused on human rights. 9 of the 15 women are working on continuing social impact initiatives.
Through the She-Village program, Forbidden Topics hopes to develop into a platform where fellows can get funding for initiatives that focus on gender inclusion and sexual gender-based violence.
To keep up with the work their doing, follow them on social media.
