Stories

Gender discrimination is still present in many society. Even today we find that many women are still suffering from gender based discrimination. Read the story of a young lady who has suffered in no small way:

"I am from Bida, in Minna, Niger state. I am 19 years old. My father had two wives who didn’t produce sons for him so he married my mum as his third wife. After my elder sister, myself and my younger sister, my mum gave birth to a boy.

From where I come from, it is viewed as a sign of weakness if a man has no sons. This is why my dad had to have a son at all cost. In the village we stay in huts which are in compounds. Each man would have a compound, and he and each of his wives would stay in separate huts within the compound.

I started school early, I don’t really remember when. What I do remember is that when I was about 4 years old my father came to the school I was attending with a cane and beat me terribly. I remember that I had not done anything wrong and even my mother didn’t know that he did that. My dad felt it was “useless” to educate female children. I continued school. He repeated the beatings 3 other times. When he did it the last time he insisted that my name be removed from the registers, exercise books and so on. School authorities couldn’t do much as he is my father. Though my teacher at that time tried to convince him, he didn’t agree".

You practice!

Take a piece of paper and draw yourself in the middle. Write down ten words around your name describing why you think it is important you go to school. Are the reasons you wrote down the same for boys and girls?