Femicide: We Speak in Silence

When a woman’s life is no longer hers, who is she? A living matter wandering the earth with two arms and two legs and an opening that takes men in and brings children out? A life to be wasted for a craving pleasure. When a woman’s voice is no longer her voice, how does she speak? Perhaps with her cries and her subtle moans or her yells. Maybe she speaks in silence when her lips are struck mute, not just by life but also by society. Who is a woman? A thing that breathes and works and births, perhaps. A voice that knows only to cry taught weakness and softness from birth. A being of fragile flesh and blood taught from birth to be second and silent.

As I sit writing, many thoughts cross my mind. Many questions open up more questions. The questions arise from a deep-rooted fear, of not just my identity as a woman, but also my place in a society that sees and brings up its women in a certain way. I am afraid of a world that protects not its virtues and its women but watches as the earth runs with their blood and the air carries their crying voices. Cries that certain parts of the world have been deaf to because of cultural attitudes, discrimination and factors that go beyond.

All over the world, I hear the voices. I hear the calls against domestic violence in the West, cries against Femicide in the South, and the screams against gender injustice in the East.

In the 21st-century modern world, there has been an increased freedom and acceptability of the individuality and identity of women, both in their expression as women and their reproductive rights, although in certain parts of the world, this advancement may be quite slow. And that slowness has come at a dangerously high price. Femicide has risen beyond the scope of just ordinary violence. It has become an issue that has stripped women of their perceived freedom and independence. Femicide is widely defined as gender-related killings of women and girls by men.

In 2022, more than four hundred women lost their lives to the growing disease of Femicide in Nigeria, a country that has recorded an evident increase in the premature and devastating killing of women. In that same year, surprisingly, more than half of females within the country had been sexually harassed or had been victims of sexual violence in their different forms. In 2024, especially within other African countries, the number may have devastatingly doubled, due to a recent murder trend.

Twenty-five years after the adoption of November 25th as the international day for the elimination of violence against women, there is still the rising presence of violence, and this time much more lethal. In the world, the figure for Femicide as of 2022 was estimated at 48,800 out of 89,000 intentional killings of women. 85,000 as of 2023 51,100 were killed by their husbands, lovers or family members. UN Women reported that every ten minutes a woman is murdered. A statistic that indirectly states that by the time a reader is done reading this piece, a woman somewhere may have been killed.

Many have blamed this phenomenon on the notion of patriarchy and certain orders that fall not in favour of women. And also, many have blamed this violence on certain actions caused by the women themselves. In October 2024, a young woman identified as Precious Yusuf was found dead by the roadside in the capital city of Delta State in Nigeria. Earlier that year, two women were found beheaded and decomposing in the city of Aba. Their names were Celine Ndudim and Afiba Tandor. These three women had paid visits to men perceived to be their friends or lovers. On the 1st of September 2024 Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei was doused in petrol by her ex-boyfriend. She died in the hospital after multiple organ failures. On the 17th of November 2024, Parween Adel, a woman from Oshawa, Ontario, was found dead, a probable victim of her husband. Most certainly, these women are part of a large number of women, thousands of women, whose faces appear in newspapers, and whose stories are told in hushed whispers and their memories carried in hearts plagued with deep sadness. Many of these women remain unknown. Their names are etched in fading memory.

There is no justification for murder. No justification for violence that results in the loss of life of women or any individual. No justification for the thousands of women each year who were lost to the disease of Femicide, with their dreams and their hopes. We can never speak too much when it comes to life. We can never say too much. Like the time when protesters hit the New York streets for the women’s march in November, a sort of collective action against gender-based violence should be carried out to protect the rights of women. It was a time when the women of American society made the world listen to the words they said. When they made the world see and hear and know that they were women, not objects of gratification, not beings to fear and be violated.

Although certain actions and measures have been put in place in certain parts of the world to curb that violence, women still are victims. It is this victimisation, this abuse, this violence and the Femicide that I write against. The truth is that we cannot discuss the issues of Femicide without touching on the same old topic of gender inequality. In a world where freedom is paramount, women have learnt to live in crippling fear. Fear of abuse, fear of limitation. Fear of being perceived as too unwomanly. Fear of being misunderstood. Fear of not being seen. Fear of being inappropriate and not living within the imposed limits of society and many more that plague women around the world. In a world that has become loud, women have learnt to speak only in whispers and with lowered voices. In a world which has grown undoubtedly tougher and stronger, women have learnt to be weaker and softer, and to ask and hope to be given rather than to have and to own. We ought to know that Femicide perpetrated by intimate partners and close family members does not just happen. It begins slowly, often with underlying factors that are often overlooked in a society that sees violence and abuse against women as normal. A society that through its inactions makes the incidence of Femicide not a criminal act, but an action or an accident that stems from an incidence of violence thereby making it acceptable.

It is important to foster certain changes to protect the lives of women. To prevent this violence against women, there should be changes in behaviours, beliefs, attitudes and actions that may endanger the lives of women and cause abusers to perpetuate that violence. We often speak in African countries of broken justice systems. These systems make it difficult for women to report violence perpetrated against them, as it is believed that oftentimes leniency is granted to the abuser. One thing that can be done is strengthening the justice system to provide safety to women who may feel abused, report abuse and protect survivors of abuse. Campaigns and programs against human rights violations can go a long way in raising awareness of this issue. Family and friends with victims of abuse should let the victims know that they ought not to stay in abusive relationships. Young girls within African countries, should learn the rules of safety and contentment and not make themselves prey on individuals who only intend to use them for certain purposes {in Nigeria the high rise in Femicide has been linked to money rituals, organ harvesting and other actions that have commercialised the body parts of women. I find it hard to come to terms with such barbaric actions and the fact that they happen} to protect themselves from acts of violence from strangers and other individuals who may carry out such acts on them.  

And with a mind filled with dreams and expectations, I dare to hope that when the world begins these silent chants against Femicide and gender violence, they will slowly echo beyond the borders of the mind and the restrictions of society; the chants of womanhood and the right to be alive, the right to live and breathe with dignity, and not to be a victim. I hope it will echo beyond our generation and be heard by our daughters, our children and our children’s children—the voice of women loud and clear. Voices that keep speaking to the world, not just in whispers but with strength and a message of life. A message from a woman to women and the rest of the world.